A bottle of shampoo

I am obviously still travelling - that is why I did not update the blog in the last few days. I`ve spent some enjoyable days on a small island and both had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit of Japanese. Will post a thread on this later on
Now I am back on the mainland, in Kagoshima and soon taking the Shinkansen (fast train) to Fukuoka to visit some people. Tomorrow I will travel on to Hiroshima.
Just a funny episode from another 24-hours ferry ride. I met these two guys who are both riding their motorbikes across Japan, one being a Harley Davidson. I chatted with one of them till late. Meanwhile my bag was lying on the chair next to me. I noticed he was watching it nervously and I asked what was the matter. He said I should hold the bag on my lap, it could be stolen otherwise. I said I considered that unlikely since a) I could watch the bag b) there were just two other people around except for us and c) Japan was not the kind of country where things get stolen often. He said it was not true, Japan were indeed dangerous. I asked for an example of someone who had actually been robbed. Guess what he said?! He said, a friend of his had travelled to Hokkaido (the very North of Japan) and his bottle of shampoo got stolen... I couldn`t help it, but burst into loud laughter! (Yes, it`s inappropriate, of course).This over-perception of dangerous is sooo Japanese, I`ve seen and heard so many examples. For us it`s just hilarious. I then asked whether I should go and get my bottle of shampoo and keep it on my lap as well...
I also had to ask about the rumour I had heard. That is, Japanese families like to go to KFC for Christmas, because it`s the closest they can get to an American turkey Christmas dinner. He confirmed this. I do acknowledge that Japan has no Christian tradition and may therefore interpret the event a bit differently. But the thought of spending Christmas eve at KFC is just hilarious.