29 June, 2009

Jinglish of the Day

The Jinglish of the day comes from a trendy part of Tokyo.

It is a shop called...


... Sugar Tit



I think that they do haircuts or something.

Now. As JTMIJ has delivered over 100 nuggets on the markets, and how they relate to cheesecake and hippos, it is time for a break, so that you can digest all these important everyday connections. JTMIJ will not publish again till next Monday.

How This Affects You.

JTMIJ will continue to produce critical analysis into the most cutting-edge and important stories, however, you have to wait a little to get the next installment. You can simulate the enjoyment of reading a new post by simply going on to the website, and reading an old one, which you may have forgotten.


And one last thing. About Sugar Tit - it doesnt matter if you're wrong, as long as you make money. (That reminds me of the market).

28 June, 2009

Cut Early, Says Hippo

A brief, but by no means trivial, message today.

We have already seen some intriguing dental services advertising.

However, the plot continues with the following poster:


The poor hippopotamus has lost most of his teeth, and has resorted to opening his mouth, and showing all the commuters on the subway, how bad the problem has become. Granted, hippos have less teeth than humans to start with, but this can only serve to underline the scale of the problem

And this, of course, is an important market message. If something needs to get cut, leaving it will only cause problems.

25 June, 2009

How to Deal with Tough Situations

As any good survival instructor will tell you, when you find yourself lost within an expansive network of underground tunnels, you should not panic. No, instead, you should stop, take a good look around, and, if available, buy yourself a sandwich.

Now, the problem with this kind of approach until now has been the lack of sandwich - this is Japan, after all. Stopping and looking around is fine, but it really isn't as good as having a snack.

However, this situation took a dramatic turn this morning, as I discovered...

... Vie de France ("Bi do Huransu"). With an authentic French flag on the sign, surely this had to be a little corner of Paris.

However, upon investigation, there were no baguettes. Clearly, this was a setback. But then I noticed a kimono-wearing lady buying bread inside, making an interesting photo. And...


...a table full of sandwiches! We're not taking about UK train-station-style half a pound of bread with some mayonnaise and a chicken-like material hiding in the middle. No, these are full-blown very appealing sandwiches, filled with the finest of nature's bounty, and wrapped with the loving care of a mother towards her children.

So what could a rational person do in a situation like this? There was only one choice, and that was one sandwich or two.

This is the wholegrain one with a load of cheese, ham, and potato salad inside. Understated and overdelivered - what did you expect?

And here was the very thin bread full of goodness sandwich. Includes chicken and stuff that goes well with chicken. Plenty of lettuce inside keeps the thing light and fresh.

And this, I am sure you'll agree, is very much like the market. If you're stuck in a corner, you need to stop, look around, and buy a sandwich. (That's figuratively).

Give Me A Bream!

Walking the residential neighbourhood on the lookout for jinglish, I happened across this shop (my zoom function was dissabled by a busy road).



It says "Athletic Dog Club".

For some reason the name struck me and I had to stop walking to ponder the meaning hidden within.

First thought was, "a club for athletic dogs"?

But then I thought, where's the money? Perhaps "Dog Athletics Club", where they rent out specially designed apparatus for dog athletics meets, that could make money. But simply a club where healthy dogs gather to go running a bit?

Then my second thought was, "a club for not very athletic dogs"?

So your worried your dog is fat (because you feed it too much, because you can't control it barking, because you live in a shoe box), so you take it to... the athletic dog club!

Which makes it like a gym, full of not-athletic dogs. Like most gyms are full of not-athletic people I suppose.

I thought well, there is definitely money to be made here, as i fantasized about men and women in lycra leggings trailed by furry balls furiously pumping their legs, wearing a heart-rate monitor with calorie-burn readout.

And then my third thought was, I will cross the road.



It is actually a dog hotel, where it claims they don't use cages, and the staff "spend nights with the dogs".

So less a dog hotel, more an inter-specie bordello?

And I picked up an information sheet (with 525 yen discount ticket attached), took it home with me, and checked out the web site.

http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~adc/

Their pricing varies by dog (of course), with different rates for small dogs, medium dogs, large dogs, and massive dogs.

But photos of the place just show a load of dogs running around mentally in a small room with a lino floor...

Shoudn't a dog hotel have something like mod-cons attached? Especially for those prices (Medium Dog - One Night - $52). I say it cannot call itself a dog hotel (which it doesn't but) without a plasma TV with K9, My Dog Skip, and Beethoven 1, 2 and 3 on continuous loop, plus some nature programs for late night viewing.

And it's like the market. Proof of concept doesn't mean anything has been done good or well or porper.

But, I leave you with some jinglish from the doggy bordello website:



The conversation goes:
Left Dog: "GIVE ME A BREAM!"
Right Dog: "DON'T FORGET ME!"

I think we agree, totally essential.

24 June, 2009

One Thousand Layer Frog Face

Now that we have experienced the excitement of the beach at Shirahama, let's check out some other seaside spots. After all, Japan does have a few of them.

Right next to Shirahama is Senjohjiki Rock Table Land. A fantastic Jinglish name, with a dissapointly correct English sign:



Senjohjiki actually means One Thousand Tatami Mats, which poetically evokes the numerous layers of rock there are here. In actual fact, I think that there are significantly more than one thousand layers - take a look:



Yes, the local Japanese at this place have not let down the team. Modestly-named, the scenery outperforms expectations. We can speculate that if in China, this would be called Ten Thousand Emerald Layer Palace, and probably have less than that many layers, possibly just a staircase or something.

Now, what good would beautiful scenery be without excruciating irony? This is a popular spot to go and take your own life. Here is a man fishing amongst some fierce-looking rocks.

Not so much fun now, is it?

And, to add to the confusion, many people have come to this place to carve their names in the stone. Such as this:


and this:


And this reminds me somewhat of the market - better to chip away at small gains than jump off a cliff.

23 June, 2009

Cosmic Space Defender Drives Cheap Car

OK, so today is another hot and sweaty day, and again we are being lazy and sitting around drinking green tea.

So what could be better than have a look at ...

... an MOT (car checkup) sign:

OK, so not too related to any of the above. But do notice that this shop is being promoted by...

... Ultraman! Here he is showing us his Meishi (business card), but unfortunately it seems that he is holding it back-to-front - clearly not very Japanese, and frankly, quite surprising.


Also notice that Ultraman's car is somewhat basic - not very bling, and also a little small for him. Perhaps that explains his dour expression.

But there is certainly a market message in here - you don't need a flash car to be a successful cosmic space defender. Or, in other words, buy cheap stuff.

22 June, 2009

Ponzi Beach Juice?

What would you do if, hypothetically, you were on a beach, when, through the Public Announcement system a clear, yet polite and restrained, voice announced in an inviting tone: "time for the next round of the big challenge! Come on everyone, let's line up for a chance to win some special prizes!" ?

Now, you may think that this is just a figment of an overly exercised imagination, or another frothing hallucination, but no, this actually happened in Shirahama ("White Beach"), the overlooked coastal jewel of Kansai (for those in the back of the class, that's the west bit of Japan).
So, within the time it would take the average well-fed European male to fold up, nay - to get up from, a deck chair, a well-ordered and perfectly-formed line consisting of a great multitude of children sprung up, as if they had appeared out of the sand.



But not only children answered the call. Here, an adult is trying the challenge. You need to win in paper-scissors-stone (a standard dispute resolution tool in Japan, possibly why no one ever gets angry in public).
One round is best of three against the athletically-uniformed staff, but - you need to win all three rounds to get...

... a carton of juice! However, there are only a very limited number of cartons to win!

And this, I feel, reminds me a little of the market. The path to success is laden with challenges. Oh yeah - and be wary of a crowd. And, if there are a lot of folks chasing a limited amount of assets, then be careful - the juice may run out, or it could be a Ponzi scheme.

My Placen!

Aim for 10 years younger, from the inside out.

My Placen

Placenta, the nutritional component that grows babies in a mother's body, an essential anti-aging component that works as an all-round cell regrowth factor.

Take Placenta and you will achieve amazing results both for your health, and your beauty.

Superior quality Placenta, in the high-concentration formulation of "My Placen", helps support "aging care" of your body with three components for skin (Collagen, Natural hyaluronan, Elastin) among 17 different active ingredients.

"My Placen" - Features.
The Placenta Extract of "My Placen" is taken only from pigs raised on farms approved by the Japan SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) Swine Association. Only pigs who have been raised to be healthy pigs, in immaculate conditions and over a number of generations, and without the use of antibiotics may receive the "SPF Pigs" accreditation. And for My Placen, we use pigs from the top of the "SPF Pigs" pyramid, a grade above most indigenous pigs.

Product Name: My Placen
Contents: 500 ml (Approx. 100 ml nutritional components)
Energy: 98 kcal
Protein: 2.0 g
Fats: 0 g
Piggy Placenta: 16,700 mg (16.7 g)

21 June, 2009

Mickey Mouse or Just Another Halluciation?

I have to apologise yet again. Today has been a busy day. You know how on some days you mentally put aside some time into a box labelled "Productive Time", and then go and start thinking about some important questions that have been on your mind, such as "those folks in Terminator 4 did a really good job against the robots - how were they so brave against their formidable and well-organised opponents?", or "does MacDonald's in Japan have wasabi-based products?", and "can a cookie with a single piece of chocolate be honestly called a Chocolate Chip Cookie?". Well, today is such a day.

And for this reason, we are going to review some brief, yet hardly unimportant, contributions to the Rare Sceneries of Japan list:

Here is a child's head with hair...

... in the shape of a heart!

Here is a closeup:

And a related, but different rare scene is - some moss by the side of the road...

... in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head!

The person who sent this entry in was so impressed by the sight of Mickey's head, that he comes every day to blow dust off it, using an air pump:

And water it (with mineral water):

However, this does raise the problem of Confirmation Bias - could the discoverers be influenced to see a shape that wasn't really there, and then comb/pour water in such a way as to make the shape more perfect? There is no way to tell, of course, but this does remind me a little of the market.

You can always find a pattern in the data if you squint hard enough.

18 June, 2009

Do the Insect Repellant Dance

Following the inspirational "Bite it and its soft, soft, soft..." advert, it would be something of a minor miracle if there was another advert on TV featuring a rare and memorable dance routine, I thought.


However, reaching this kind of conclusion is clearly problematic. What if there is another amazing advert, but you haven't seen it yet? The old problem of the tree falling in the forest but no one seeing it.

So, the only thing to do in a case such as this is to spend a great deal of time watching TV, in the hope that another commercial comes up. Thus, as any logical person, I essentially talked myself into doing this.

And, after a lengthy and challenging vigil, the following discovery was made:

The words are "Hang it, hang it, hang it, hang it up, hang it up; Insects will not come; An invisible door screen!"


If you would like to sing along in Japanese: "Bura bura sasete, bura bura sagete; Mushi konazu; Mienai amido!"

Happily, there is even more to this joyful story. The company has another version of the anti-insect product:

"Back door, Front door, Side door; Insets will not come; An invisible door screen! Porch-Use!"



Singalong: "Uraguchi, deguchi, katteguchi; Mushi konazu; Mienai amido!; Genkan-yo!"

Although I realise that not everyone was tempted to copy the chewing gum dance, I am sure that this is due to the quality of competition. However, perhaps you may want to try this one, in the home, office, or just on public transport.

And the discovery of this gem rather reminds me of an aspect of the market. While it is tempting to connect this episode to rare events, option pricing, tail-risk etc, I think that we can all take away the lesson that lightning does, in fact, strike twice.

17 June, 2009

Look for the Wow Factor

In everyday activities, as in the market, there is more than one way to skin a horse. And one of the important butcher's knives we commonly deploy is that of the quality assessment. But how can we tell if a given share, currency, or hotel is any good?

I'm glad you were thinking about that question, because I have some photos at hand to illustrate.

Witness the Osaka Hilton. At first, you make your way into the lobby, and decide that it is a good quality hotel, based on the singing lady and piano, and well-dressed people standing around listening.


However, I put it to you that this is not a sufficient indicator. Would you have walked into a regional Lehman office, said "wow - nice chandelier and golden lions", and instantly hurried to your broker to buy as much as the market would take? Exactly.

A much better source of insight is the obligatory wall clock display. I propose the inverse of the sum of the variation between the clocks, as a quality-of-hotel indicator. Let's call it, I don't know - how about the Jan Hotel Quality Index. In this case the variation is minimal, and thus the JHQI is massive. But you wouldn't expect the Japanese to be taking lessons in punctuality - I bet that any variation is more the fault of Rolex.

So far, so good. But that can hardly be enough. We must look for other clues to make up the entire picture. And here, I suggest the Unhappiness of People in the Lobby number. The theory here is that rich people are the most likely to be dissatisfied with everything, and unhappy people on business trips are more likely to be important fat cats. Here, almost everyone looks suicidal - a fantastic quality pointer!


But we still have to look out for that one extra thing - the Wow factor that all good hotels aspire to.

And here we have found it, in the form of...

...a wedding-themed stick-your-face-in-the cardboard photo thingy for kids! (or midgets)


So this hotel does pass the quality test, and, thankfully, it has some Jinglish for those who almost forgot that we are in Japan: "The atrium plaza is designated as the public space".

And this reminds me a little of the market. If you are buying stocks, perhaps you should do more due diligence than counting the number of gold elephants in the company's atrium.

A Salaryman Sandwich Please!

Ask anyone what the five most famous things about Japan are and they will probably reply, in some order:

It had nuclear bombs dropped on it.
They eat raw fish.
It's got lots of really flash electronics.
Something else.
and
The trains are crazy.



Sadly we may never see this in real life, scenes of people pushing into trains like zombies from Day of the Dead, as the video is actually from a bygone age (90s).

Us foreigners, and not a few Japanese, will probably look at this and think wow, those people must really wanted to get to work. A few of them couldn't just turn around and wait for the next train? Would that have been so unrealistic?

But you look at the video again and, wait a minute, is this actually getting any of these people to work faster...?

A nominally full train (rather than packed-to-bursting, or chock-fucked) would have closed its doors a full 60 SECONDS EARLIER than does the train in the video. Ergo the result of squeezing an extra 5% of people onto the train is to delay the train by 60 seconds.

During rush hour, the average time between trains at many stations is 3 to 5 minutes, which means, if the 5% had waited between an extra 2 and 4 minutes for the next train rather than attempt to body-block their way onto an already-full carriage, them and an additional 95% of people could have got to work probably a bit quicker.

(These calculations are obvious and true)

So where does the benefit lie? Why is this happening?

So I say, it's mob law. Give a certain Japanese person a suitcase, a full train, a line of similar people, and some closing doors, and they turn into Millwall fans on a Saturday afternoon (unthinking hooligans).

And may I say how this could remind someone of the market?

Stand outside popular opinion to see where the true benefits lie.

16 June, 2009

In the Pocket of the Beholder

Now, with the global recession reaching the furthest and darkest corner, even potential consumers of old-fashioned board games are trading down.

And where else are we to find the most compact and efficient version of Hungry Hippos, than in Japan. Here we have Hungry Hippos...

...on a keychain!

$6.50. Ideal for those who need to carry all their entertainment needs in a trouser pocket. Also ideal for those who have delicate fingers and are not prone to breaking things. The packaging says, in the big red star, "with Limited Gameplay". And this should be warning enough.

But if you're still looking for a portable solution to your old-fashion diversion needs, then look no further than the....

....magnetic dart board on a key chain!


Now, anyone who has ever played magnetic darts has wondered how this genre of game did not die out together with Mr Frosty. But making a pocket version creates a whole new dilema - shall I buy it, knowing full well that it is completely useless?

And this reminds me a little of the market. While junk can be tempting in the short term, it often leads to regret upon reflection.

15 June, 2009

More Food Technology

Today being a good day for getting busy watching to see if any new commercials have made it onto the TV, I have only time to quickly update you with an important trend:

The food-screen wipe:

At first, it looks just like a normal doughnut you may leave lying around your computer. But, cunningly, it is a disguised screenwipe. $5.80.

Also available in cake with cherry version:

And, for those who think that wiping your screen with a cake is just a bit silly:

...how about a burger wipe!

And this reminds me a little of the market. If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, you may end up eating a screenwipe.



On a separate note, with two days left till the election results (go to the site to press button on whether there should be a three-per-week schedule), there is understandably an air of expectancy and tension. Ok, perhaps not. Initial indications show that four votes have been cast so far, with a three-to-one majority favouring daily spamming.

However, despite the democracy nameplate, this is not an election in the way of Holland or Japan.

Sure, no one cares about the result, turnout is poor, and everyone is worried about keeping their jobs, but this is a democracy more in style of a country that needs to prefix its name with "The Democratic People's Republic". A little like Zimbabwe, although not entirely, as that would have me alternately beating you with a stick, and offering you stolen land, in ordrer to entice you to vote. However, I am not going to interfere with voting, but may end up interpretting the results, a bit like the US government does with unemployment data.

14 June, 2009

$10k Chewing Gum Dancing

By now, we all understand the power of advertising.


Following the forceful logic of "Go on, Go on, Isuzu Truck", it was widely believed (mainly by me), that there could be another work of such genius any time soon.


However, as many forecasts made under unpredictable conditions, this short-sightedness has already proven to be foolhardy.


And the new king of commercials comes from the world of chewing gum:




The words are fairly straightforward. Do sing along, if only under your breath. "Kamu to funyan funyan, funyan funyan funyan funyan, Kamu to funyan funyan, funyan funyan funyan funyan...." and so on.

This means "Bite it and its soft, soft, soft, Bite it and its soft, soft, soft".

The fist fifteen times I heard the advert I thought it was saying "Miaowing around with the cat, miaowing, miaowing...", and I also spent some time under the impression that it may have been saying "Hayfever - miao miao miao miao miao miao miao". It is easy to make yourself misunderstood in Japanese.

Now, here is the part where it is really an outstanding advert. The promoters hit upon the inspired idea of offering 100,000 Yen ($10k) to the person who can do the best imitation of the dance. This is likely one of the best advertising investments of all time. On their site you can view the entries (highly recommended), and view an instructional video on how to, and (importantly), how not to do the dance.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Unfortunately, they are no longer accepting entries. However, for the greater good, I reviewed loads of them, and here are some of the interesting ones.

Here is probably the best classroom one - for the ending, mainly. NB - There are also lots of early morning office ones, but they are all bad:



Often people do the dancing at home, but here is the only one with someone wearing a face mask at home:



This one gets the prize for best location (but also check out bored santa in front of random statue):



But this one clearly wins the prize for originality:



And this reminds me a little of the market. It helps to be a contrarian.

Jesus Body!



I start my contributions to Jan's blog with some prime rib, state-of-the-art, top draw, trousers down, bottoms up, top-of-the-line, back-to-the-wall, bona-fide Jinglish marketing.

This new celebrity-vouched dietary supplement, vouched by the celebrity to help you with your diet (as in losing weight), is called "Jesus Body!".



I see. I guess Jesus was known for being a healthy kind of guy. If not bodily than at least morally. And at least up until his 33rd birthday.

Around which time his health took a turn for the death.

And the promised quality Jinglish - on the front of the box and reproduced below in case my roving reporter's camera (mobile phone) hasn't quite picked out all the detail is;

"New discovery to be kept secret from others.
this discovery is a secret.
I can lay it down because I am correct.
We will not make you sorry.
Pleasure to have the real thing.
I really longed for this."



Firstly, telling people to keep your product a secret is surely not part of any top-shelf marketing campaign, perhaps the under-the-counter-shelf, but not top-shelf.

Secondly, it's hard to believe that the discovery of something found on the shelves of most drug stores can itself be a secret. No one's disbelief will be suspending itself that far. Another bad move from marketing.

Thirdly the "laying down". The only way that works is if these Jinglish sentences are actually part of a rap, a battle rap, and the person is "laying down" her lyrics (on dietary supplements) as she/he boasts "I am correct" (on dietary supplements).

Fourthly, it's Jinglish.

Oh yes, and I am required by law of the blog to state that I use the word Jinglish under license from Jan the man in Japan. Though, as it has been recently announced that the English language is accepting any old crap/excellent ideas for new words, I shouldn't need to put in this disclaimer for long.

And what's in the actual product? The approximate contents of your last Thai green curry, apparently.

To Conclude:
Christianity - not such a big thing in Japan.

11 June, 2009

Avoid Pink Cow Pat for Scientific Breakthrough

Given that we have gotten ourselves all excited over the discovery of Jitalian cuisine, surely there is no better time than now to look at an alternative way of getting into the same game from a different angle. This is a slightly similar strategy to worrying about overexcitement in oil futures, and taking a look at natural gas.

And by this, I mean checking out my favourite convenience provider's, Family Mart's, selection of fresh-looking, yet affordably-priced packaged pasta dishes. You can get seafood, meat, more meat, and very thick cream. Udon and cold noodles (I know, don't ask) are well-represented also. The very thick cream idea must have sounded great in the Family Mart boardroom (possibly a well-designed yet inexpensive room in a very good location), however, the cold temperature resulting from their very own refrigerators (they really should have thought this through), makes it look like a pink cow pat (not pictured).

So essentially, this comes down to the Meat Cream Volume Raw Pasta (Fettucine). $4.30. But is this the value play of a lifetime, or a value trap?



To complement the convenience meal, what better than ...

... some genuine Jitalian sweets.

This is the Tiramisu. One of the only foreign words in Japan pronouced anything like the original. Also, one of the only words which undergoes a decrease in the vowel-count upon Japanification("Tiramisu"->"Tiramis"). A promising sign already!


And here is a big tub of white cream.


Or you can have a W Cream Wafaru Sando (Waffle Sandwhich), which in fact just looks like a spongey creamy mess, possibly usable in children's TV programs where cakes are thrown in peoples' faces as punishment for not running around fast enough. Apart from raising the important question of what are we teaching our children, this also brings out the question of how much fun would it be to throw a soft pie into someone's unsuspecting face, in reality. Investigation pending.



So, basically, our hand is forced, and we essentially have no option but to go for the Tiramis.

Now, this being Japan, the convenience shop workers automatically ask whether we would like to have our noodles warmed up in the handy high-power microwave. No need to mess around with all those buttons at home!

And, here it is. Despite the picture of the fork and plate on the packaging above, be sure to use chopsticks for that authentic Jitalian experience.



And, in fact, the pasta was, incredibly, only very slightly overcooked! The sauce was spot on also. For $4.30, this is nothing short of a breakthrough in affordable food technology.

However, the tiramis was highly disappointing. It contained jelly. Not American ice-cream jelly, but gelatinous wobbly unidentified-substance tofu-like jelly. Fortunately, the gains in the pasta breakthrough outweighed the losses on the tiramis.

And this reminds me somewhat of the market. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

10 June, 2009

Optimistic or Lazy Summer ?

In the stockmarket, there exists such an idea as a "buy and hold strategy". Perhaps not being terribly imaginative, whoever originally coined the term created a crisp expression to describe the way most people behave most of the time - i.e. do nothing. And doing a lot of nothing is often a good thing, because this protects you from the bundle of fear, excitement, imagination and panic that make up the average person. And the average person, as we now know very well, is as shrewd, savvy, and calm under pressure as the proverbial deer crossing a moonlit country lane when, just at that moment, a hypothetical American-made car sweeps into view, most likely creating much noise, and bathes the poor deer in headlights, after which some level of panic ensues.

Now, this is all just another way to say that there are times when it is best to not do terribly much at all. And that is the market message of the day.

In order to prevent protests and howling at what a cop-out this post is, I am providing a nice picture of something completely unrelated, but somewhat topical given current market conditions. This sign is from a clothing shop.




For those that have read this far, please note that JTMIJ is considering moving to a 3-per week schedule. If you have an opinion on this, do get on the website and press a voting button.

09 June, 2009

Jinglish of the Day

The Jinglish of the day comes from a construction company:

"Keep Infinite Success"

And this reminds me a little of the market. Its good to be ambitious, up to a point.

08 June, 2009

A Surprising Outbreak of Harmony

Following all the excitement of yesterday's dry noodle experience, it is time to check out what is on TV. And, as luck would have it, we have got ...

... another Rare Scene in Japan!

This time, instead of an 80 year old He-Man, we have...

... a green iguana ? Nothing so special about that. Fairly big though.

The iguana understandibly likes to sunbathe on the windowsill. If you were the size of an iguana, you would probably do so too.


Now, here is the good part - the iguana is sunbathing there, when along comes...


... a cat! The cat's name is Nana (Seven) Chan, and the iguana is called Sora (Sky) Chan.


Now, at first this does not seem as exciting as, say, Gatchapon, however, you have to understand that the cat and iguana are not fighting at all! This is widely accepted by the studio audience as something of a miracle, with a simultaneous "Wow" in Japanese, which is pronounced "Eeeeeh" (long and rising "Eh"). The panalists are visibly impressed.

Now for the amazing part - the cat and iguana are such good friends, that they pet each other.

And, increadibly, they share their food more politely than they would with a fellow member of their own species. Although it looks like they are eating noodles, that would be too much unusual scenes to handle in one day, and, in fact, they are eating meat. You can see the reaction of one of the pannelists in the top right corner.

And here is a plasticine sculpture depicting the close bond between these unlikely friends.

And this reminds me a little of the market. Don't assume you can't do business with a cold-blooded creature.