Christmas cake

An amusing little tidbit that I'd forgotten until yesterday was that the Japanese call a woman who is "on the shelf" (ie an old maid) a "Christmas cake". I found a good explanation online: "It may well be sweet and delicious, but no one really wants any after the 25th. So, if you're an unmarried Japanese woman, after the age of twenty five, you're in extreme danger of becoming a Christmas Cake." (from here)



Funny how the Japanese can make a relatively negative (even if you, like me, don't believe it's a negative thing to be an unmarried woman in your late 20s and upwards, it's MEANT in a negative sense I guess) term sound kawaii! We get old maid, they get Christmas cake!



In other news, cold winds have hit Shanghai and it is FREEZING! Bone chillingly so!