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Meg Murphy

Born in the southwest United States, Meg exchanged eternal summers for eternal rain when she relocated to Seattle in 2007. After finishing school, she decided to try and put her degree to good use- coming to Japan in April 2011 with no solid plans, and has been here ever since. An avid traveler and adventurer, always up for a challenge. A vegetarian for most of her life, on a quest to find delicious, non-meaty eats. She'd like to think she's creative and artistic, but that's up for debate. She also enjoys normal people things too, like music, movies, and cats. Because there can never be too many cats in one's life.

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Posted by Meg Murphy (Page 17)

This fun and fruity toilet paper looks good enough to eat

Meg Murphy
Nov 21, 2015
Tweet

Looking for something tooty-fruity for your booty? How about these tasty-looking fruit toilet paper rolls?

Japan
(fruit • interesting designs • novelty items • toilet paper)

Trash to treasure: Incredible motorised steampunk goggles are made out of nothing but spare parts

Meg Murphy
Nov 20, 2015

Halloween has already passed, but when you’re talking about amazing steampunk-inspired outfits and accessories, like these custom-made motorized goggles, who needs a reason to dress up? Check out how this crafty Japanese Twitterer turned some spare parts into a work of art!

Japan
(cosplay • DIY • goggles • handicraft • steampunk • twitter)

A Japanese doctor’s 10 tips for proper medical care

Meg Murphy
Nov 19, 2015

With the world’s knowledge quite literally at our fingertips, the sheer amount of information available to us can be overwhelming. With the ability to look up anything from recipes to diagnostics and treatments for diseases at the touch of a button, how are we to know what to believe?

A doctor’s office in Japan has posted a list of 10 tips to help patients weed through all the falsities in order to make the best decisions about their medical care.

Japan
(10 tips • advice • health • Japanese doctors • Japanese hospitals • medicine)

Ham sandwich! Japanese netizens are loling at these nonsense car decals

Meg Murphy
Nov 19, 2015

If you live in Asia, you’re probably used to seeing Engrish phrases everywhere. When you’ve grown up reading and writing in kanji, hiragana, etc., the “foreign-ness” of English writing and phrases adds an air of mystery and style. But it’s exactly the same in the west too—people will buy all kinds of products with kanji characters written on them whether or not they know what they mean.

Here are some examples of decked-out cars with random, nonsensical Japanese phrases on them that have Japanese netizens laughing their socks off over.

Japan
(cars • Engrish • funny Japanese • Japanglish)

Hotel guest leaves origami for cleaning staff, back-and-forth folding battle ensues!

Meg Murphy
Nov 17, 2015

Tipping is a custom often debated in the world of customer service. Proponents of the practice believe workers are more motivated to give better service knowing that they will be paid better for doing so, while opponents argue that it shouldn’t be up to the customer to determine how much the employee gets paid.

But whether working for tips or not, if you treat the one serving you with kindness and respect, they are more likely to go out of their way to give you better service. Take, for example, this poster on Twitter, who left a little origami crane with a tip for the hotel cleaning staff, and in return got an even bigger surprise!

Japan
(folded towels • hotels • origami • small acts of kindness)

Student injured in jump from burning apartment after lighting fallen hair on fire

Meg Murphy
Nov 14, 2015

It’s estimated that people lose an average of 50 to 100 strands of hair a day. Most of those will probably go unnoticed, but if throwing those fallen hairs away in the garbage seems too boring a task, you could find some other use for them.

What we don’t recommend doing, though, is lighting your fallen hair on fire like this Japanese university student, for some reason, decided to do…

Japan
(college • fires • hair • stupid hurts • wtf news)

Soot sprites from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro get a 3D CG makeover! 【Video】

Meg Murphy
Nov 13, 2015

My Neighbor Totoro is without a doubt one of the world’s most-loved Hayao Miyazaki’s films. The movie is filled with memorable characters, from the big guy himself down to the littlest soot sprites. Their design may be simple—black furry balls with big, white eyes—but that doesn’t make them any less cute.

But what if you took them from two-dimensional to 3D computer animation? Absolute adorableness!

Japan
(Makkuro Kurosuke • My Neighbor Totoro • Niconico Douga • soot sprites • spirited away)

Watch this chill cat groove to the beat of “Hotline Bling”【Video】

Meg Murphy
Nov 12, 2015

We’ve all got that song that really moves us, gets us caught up in its beats and has us tapping our feet or nodding our head. But are the pleasures of music limited only to the human species? Most would argue that yes, music is an art unfortunately lost on animals. Or, at least, that they can’t enjoy it on the same level as us Homo-sapiens.

To you nay-sayers, hold that thought, because we found one groovy cool cat who begs to differ!

Internet
(animals • cats • cute • funny • Hotline Bling • music)

Meet the people and organizations who are tackling the problem of childhood hunger in Japan

Meg Murphy
Nov 12, 2015

Tough economic times can and do happen everywhere in the world. Even in wealthy, developed countries like Japan, some folks struggle every day to make ends meet. Sometimes, those people are families with young children.

Childhood hunger is a worldwide problem, and while no one deserves to go hungry, it is an especially sad situation for children. For one thing, they can’t really do anything to help better their situation, and secondly, they need the food and nutrition to help their bodies continue to grow properly. In Japan, approximately 16 percent of two-parent families are financially unable to provide enough food for their children, and that number jumps to 32 percent for single-parent households, according to a 2012 survey. But there are some who refuse to stand by doing nothing and are dedicating themselves to feeding the hungry children in Japan.

Japan
(charity • child hunger • kids • society • touching)

Noodles before dumplings? Argument over ramen and gyoza ends in arrest

Meg Murphy
Nov 10, 2015

If you’ve ever worked in a customer-facing role, you know just how demanding some people can be. There are times you get talked down to, bossed around, and treated like you’re sub-human just because you’re the employee and they’re the one spending the cash.

On the flip-side, as a customer, you expect to be treated respectfully and get what you pay for. Most of the time there’s a fairly even balance—interaction between customer and employee goes smoothly, both parties are polite and respectful, and all’s well that ends well. But sometimes that balance can be upset, and things can get way out of hand. Like what happened at this ramen restaurant in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture, when an argument turned into a three-hour sit-in that ended with local police making an arrest…

Japan
(angry customers • gyoza • Japanese food • ramen • wtf news)

TV program featuring hot men visiting hot springs to release DVD and photobook this month

Meg Murphy
Nov 7, 2015

Alright ladies, so you’ve spent all day at the office, or out running errands, or cleaning up house and cooking for everyone and taking care of the kids, or maybe even all of the above. Now you want to reward yourself, unwind, and relax in front of the TV or with a good book. Why not let this group of good-looking fellows help you recuperate?

After all, that was the thought behind the creation of the TV show Men’s Onsen, and what could be more rewarding than watching this handsome bunch, clad in nothing but towels, taking a dip in one of Japan’s many hot springs?

Japan
(BS Japan • hot springs • ikemen • Japanese TV • Men's Onsen • Takahiro Kato • Takeru)

Through the eyes of a child — Five-year-old girl takes her mother to see local “Martian”

Meg Murphy
Nov 6, 2015

Looking up into the vastness of space, it’s only natural for one to wonder if we’re really all alone here. There are reports of contact with alien life all the time, sometimes even with photographic material to support them. Some of them are undoubtedly hokey, but others make you pause and wonder…

Like this photo, of a martian living on a lone street in a Japanese neighborhood. A young five-year-old had seen the martian many times before she took her mother along to see. The mother then snapped a photo of the encounter and posted it on Twitter for the world to see…

Japan
(aliens • cute • kids • martians • twitter)

Latte sharpeners, mayo correction fluid and more will confuse the heck out of your friends【Pics】

Meg Murphy
Nov 5, 2015

Doing school or office work can be a real drag. Taking notes? Completing worksheets? Writing reports? You’ve got more pressing matters to attend to, like checking all of your social media sites for the fifth time in five minutes.

But in the end those things just have to be done, so why not mix it up a bit? Let your “latte” sharpen your pencils, your bottle of mayo white-out your mistakes, and your naan hold all of your writing utensils together. Take a look below to see all the nifty stationery goods that don’t even look like stationery at all!

Japan
(cute • food • interesting goods • japanese products • office • stationery)

Trouble sleeping? Then let this shrimp pillow cuddle/strangle you to sleep tonight

Meg Murphy
Nov 4, 2015

What’s crucial for a getting a good night’s sleep? For many, a good pillow is key, as a bad one can leave you tossing and turning all night trying to get comfortable and leave you with a crick in your neck the next morning. If you need a little extra support, a neck pillow can be just the addition you need.

But don’t settle for just any old, everyday neck pillow. Get one with flare and style… and shrimp!

Japan
(rakuten • shopping • shrimp pillow • weird gifts)

See a whole other side of Kyoto in this beautiful, quintessentially Japanese train, coming soon

Meg Murphy
Nov 3, 2015

With all the sights, sounds, and history Kyoto City has to offer, from the Golden Pavilion to the thousands of torii shrine gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine, most people forget that there is much more to Kyoto outside of the bustling capital city. Kyoto Prefecture actually reaches farther north, with its northernmost cities bordering the ocean on the Sea of Japan side, earning the area the nickname “Umi no Kyoto“, literally meaning “Kyoto of the Sea”.

For travelers looking to explore more than the usual tourist spots, there are trains departing from Kyoto Station which will take you for a scenic ride through the northern part of the prefecture to view other famous sites such as the beautiful Amanohashidate land bridge in Miyazu City. And now, Japan Railway (JR) has teamed up with a well-known designer to make the travel experience much more unique in this old-style Umi no Kyoto-themed train, set for departure soon!

Japan
(Amanohashidate • JR West • Kyoto • railways • tourism • trains)

The most ingenious David action figure is here to strut his stuff and show his new moves【Photos】

Meg Murphy
Nov 1, 2015

Michelangelo’s marble interpretation of David is without a doubt one of the most iconic statues in history. I’m sure every one of you out there is familiar with that stony gaze and perfectly-chiseled, rock-hard body as David stands poised and ready to face the giant Goliath.

But after centuries of standing and waiting to fight, David is now ready to strike a few new poses, with your help, as he makes an appearance as your very own personable, posable action figure!

Internet
(action figure • art • david • Michelangelo)

Photos of scrawny-looking lion and tiger raise concerns for Beijing Zoo’s big cats

Meg Murphy
Oct 30, 2015

Zoos bring the thrill of being able to observe wild, exotic animals up close that we normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to see. For young and old alike, seeing one’s favorite animal just a few meters away can be a magical experience, but sadly for the animal involved, the experience may not be a happy one.

With news like the deer who died from plastic consumption and the lonely “headbanging” bear, it seems that recently there are an increasing number of sad stories coming from zoos. Unfortunately we have yet another to add to the list, as photographs of a couple of Beijing Zoo’s big cats surfaced on the internet this past week that beg the question of how well these animals are being taken care of.
Read More

China
(animal welfare • animals • lions • tigers • zoos)

“Smash Bros. and chill” is disturbing, borderline not-safe-for-work【Pics】

Meg Murphy
Oct 29, 2015

Ever since Twitter user @itsIsaaaaaaac tweeted those famous words, “Netflix and chill“, internet meme-dom, and indirect invitations to have a “good time” with it, were forever changed.

As a result, the internet is now packed full of hilarious and awkward examples of what can happen when one puts out that particular call. But what if, mused one net user, instead of offering to Netflix and chill one was to make a similar offer to “Smash Bros. and chill“? What would that even look like?

Thanks to the work of the Internet masses, we now have the answer. And it’s hilariously inappropriate.

Internet
(inappropraite behavior • memes • Netflix and chill • nintendo • Pokemon • Smash Bros • video games)

Old tires and shoe soles said to be being used in bubble tea tapioca pearls

Meg Murphy
Oct 28, 2015

Bubble tea, also called boba, or pearl-tea, had its beginnings in Taiwan but has spread in popularity throughout the world. The creamy milk-tea dotted with chewy, gummy-like tapioca pearls and endless flavor possibilities makes this the perfect snack when you can’t decide if you want something to drink or something to eat.

The tapioca pearls that give these milky drinks their fun texture are made from cassava root. Or, at least they should be. But an investigation in China has turned up a “tapioca” plant that makes pearls from materials that aren’t even edible…

China
(boba • bubble tea • drinks • pearl tea • scary • weird • wtf)

100-yen water guns get super cool makeovers, make awesome costume accessories 【Photos】

Meg Murphy
Oct 27, 2015

Halloween is less than a week away! Do all of you have your costumes ready?

If you’re still looking to add a nifty additional touch, then you can do as these handy DIY-ers on Twitter did and turn inexpensive, 100-yen (US$0.84) water guns into clever, steampunk-ish accessories. All it takes is some paint and a little creativity!