Yokoyaya 123 (for one dollar, two dollars, three dollars, I'm told) is a fabulous and strange mini-Daiso kind of super Asian dollar store in Tinseltown, the equally strange mall on the corner of Abbott and Pender, a block from my place. Yokoyaya is much better than your average dollar store. The products are of a much better quality than say, the Great Canadian Dollar Store, A Buck or Two, or, dare I say it, Quebec's mighty (and my previous fave) Dollarama, and they tend to carry items you might actually want, as opposed to schlock (although they have their fair share of that, too). They have an entire department devoted to drawer liners, and another one just for paperclips. Everything's cheap, and everything's cute. On my last visit, I got a little kitchen scrubber that was sparkly and shaped like the smiling star from Super Mario 3:

See?! Cute. And one dollar. This is why I love Yokoyaya.

Now, I don't mean to be racist or condescending - honest - I'm an equal opportunity lover-of-the-ridiculous, but one of my absolute favorite things about Yokoyaya is reading the English translations on the packaging for some of this stuff. It cracks me up. I bought a pair of supercute pink iPod headphones with black stars on them, whose box informed me "Mix style headphones offers good feeling with vogue and pleasure." Vogue and pleasure? Who could resist! Sold! Here are some things that made me chuckle the last time I popped in:

Ah, yes. Just what I needed. A new Shampoo Hat. Why do they never have 37.5 cm Shampoo Hats when I need one?!

Someone better tell Lil' Jon about this delightful treat.

Why, you're right, $2 plastic poncho. Rain does add a special charm to the red-tinted autumnal leaves! And so do you.

This is FROM USA. Pay NO attention to Japanese writing.