Results matching “Japan”

Drinking in Japan is the stuff of legend. Both for the fun and for the price (usually expensive). In Kyoto however, is a bar called the Moonwalker. It's on the main drag along the canal next to a Harley themed bar. Entry is Y300 and drinks are Y200 apiece. They're not watered down but they ARE half size. Regardless, you can drink a LOT and get smashed very quickly.

So here's Momo and Yuki again. Fellow backpackers at the hostel who I wound up going to dinner and boozing with on my first night in Kyoto. Soon to be graduates of Uni in Tokyo, both of them have spent a year in english speaking countries (New Zealand and Canada) so their english is quite good. Also very fun to hang out with.

Erm, too many drinks will do this to you...!

Besides cheap drinks, the Moonwalker has a small selection of snacks that we were comped since we ordered so many drinks. Like these bunny shaped buns. Bun buns? We had something else too but I forgot what else we ate.

...cuz we ate lots of these bunnies!

Shortly after we arrived, a party of three came in and took the table next to us. Since they were "next to us", for them to be seated meant that half of our table had to get up so they could squeeze inside. As a result, they became part of our merryment (along with the Aussies at the bar). Note the one in the red cardigan on the right. Unbeknownst to me, I was to see her again...fate perhaps?

Hiya neighbours!

They had the same fascination with the drinks as we did. They did the Japanese thing. Whipped out their phones and took pictures of their drinks. As opposed to us Joe Gaijin that merely whipped out cameras.

wish MY phone could do that...

More drunken merriment until our neighbours left and then we left the bar later on.

I can hold my breath for THIS long!

Wheeee! Merryment!

And on the death march back to the hostel, we passed a LOT of combini. So naturally we heeded the siren's call and got some refreshment. Mmmmm! Refreshment!

Nightcap!

WAHAHAHAH!

Miyajima, one of THE scenic spots in Japan is only 30 minutes away from JR Hiroshima by train and then 10 minutes away via ferry. For a scenic spot, it's VERY easy to get to. Some of the best shots can be had on the ferry ride over.

Please take note of the sky...

The floating torii at low tide

I actually made TWO trips to Miyajima. The first trip was made on a day that started rainy and continued to be rainy. The next day was sunny so I made land and visited the Itsukushima temple and the town.

The entrance to the temple. Y300 please!

Much of the temple is actually on stilts so when it's high tide, it looks like it's floating, like the torii. Unfortunately, high tide is at 0740 and then gradually recedes.

Low tide is so low you can walk to the torii.

The temple is a big part of the town. It draws the tourists in and is the symbol of Miyajima. Here's some renditions from the local school.

I like the second one. Verrrry abstract

Miyajima is also a town with several other temples and a main street that runs from the ferry terminal along the side of the island to the entrance of the temples. The town also runs into the hills.

Miyajima is also known for the quality of their rice scoops. And on display in the center of town is the world's largest rice scoop.

Dun wanna see the rice cooker that they use this with!

There's also some ryokan here. Next time I'll spend the night and chill.

This is always a welcome sight in my ramen-scarce area. This is Majikku Ramen in Daly City. It's in that mall on Skyline where Ranch 99 and the KFC is. If you're Asian and you live in San Francisco, chances are you know where this is and can get here blindfolded.

New Ramen shop! Sorta of in my area...

The sign above usually means, "come in and eat". So I went this evening.

It was pretty busy because it was dinner time

The place had chill out lounge music which would be great for the kind of bars I like to frequent, but even though it's not really ramen shop music, it worked with the decor which is very modern-y and new. That's fine since this place has been open for only a few months.

Many things can make or break a ramen shop besides the actual food. The ramen is of course, the reason you go to a ramen shop but the service, the variety of food (or lack thereof) and the atmosphere can also make a place worthwhile.

Or it can break a place.

First the good stuff. Decent tonkotsu broth. Good flavor without the MSG hangover.

Here's another added (and rare) feature here. Cha siu slices that are rich, flavourful and hella tender! The noodles were decently springy. I think I was here on a good night.

Makes your mouth water, dun it?

Before the ramen showed up, ordered some chicken yakatori and wasabi chicken from the Robata-Yaki menu. Both very good and worthy of piss alley in Shinjuku.

Great with beer!

Now the not so great. The miso ramen was extremely oversalted to the point of causing a salt/msg headache. Canned bamboo shoots in both bowls were rubbery and limp. But at least the noodles and cha siu kept their ramen-y goodness. Both bowls also came out not as hot as I'd like. My miso ramen friend didn't have problems with the warmth of the bowl so that may be a matter of personal preference.

The bowl looks good...and the cha siu still rox!

Now so far, we have good appetizers and passable ramen. Before I continue, I should mention that they have lots of free parking. Here's where the place falls flat on its face. The service is bad. It's the kind of service that you'd expect in a typical Chinese restaurant here. No, I'll go further than that. It genuinely seemed like they were very disinterested in doing their jobs. There was no greeting from the waitstaff when we signed in and waited for our wall-facing counter seat. Service was incredibly slow despite the fact it was the dinner hour.

Come here if you've got the craving for ramen/izakaya food. Just don't expect the experience and treatment that you'd usually get from one of these places. Order simply, eat and leave. Also interesting...there were no Japanese diners or staff inside...

Majikku Ramen
240 Skyline Plaza
Daly City CA 94015
650-756-2988

One of the most oft-repeated questions I get about my travels is "how do you afford it"? Here's the answer, one of the Jedi secrets. Ready? Here it comes...

I try to make sure that all my other costs don't exceed the cost of my airplane ticket.

Generally, I do much of my travel off-season so tickets are cheaper and the travel budget gets smaller. I use that figure as a benchmark to budget. And yes, there's method to the madness.

My normal SOP is to stay at hostels. They're cheap, they often have character and you can meet fellow travelers and make new friends for hanging out. Now the caveat is knowing which hostels are great and which ones inspired horror movies. Hint: You don't want to stay in the latter. Generally all the hostels I've blogged about are in the former category although I've stayed in some dives that deserved mention and warning about.

So my experience staying at HI-Sukhumvit would be in the "great" category. The place is a 5 minute trudge from the Thong Lo Skytrain, through a night market and then another 1/2 block. It's a great location for exploring the city because many of the sights are within striking distance of the Skytrain or the MRT. If you arrive at night, give yourself a little more time as you'll surrender to the sights and smells and wind up eating.

The patio in front of the hostel

The hostel is all of a 5 story building, with a lounge area and laundry facilities on the roof. They have both private rooms and dorms. The dorms have the firmest (that means it's great!) mattresses I've ever been on in a hostel AND great air-con. The common bathrooms are almost Japanese in cleanliness.

View of the Rama IX bridge from the hostel roof

Firm beds in a dorm room! I like!

On the last two nights in BKK, I decided to treat myself (as do most flashpackers) to a hotel stay. BKK has very nice hotels and due to the exchange rate, they're affordable. Let's put it this way. For the price of a 1 star in Manhattan, I can stay at a 4 star boutique hotel. Which is what I did.

No more bunk beds and loud sleepers!

Dream Hotel BKK has a sister location in Manhattan that costs three times as much. The BKK one is a better deal and has better service. They have free wi-fi and the rooms were comfortable, but it wasn't the essence of travel where you meet people and hang out and drink beer on the roof until 0400. This hotel, however, hit the perfect spot for decompressing before my return to "the world" two days later.

The desk and the flat screen HD TV with satellite and DVD player

My own can! WAHAHAHAHAH

Dream is located about 10 minutes walk from Asok Skytrain and the Sukumvit MRT stop; half of the walk is down Sukhumvit Road where you pass a McDonald's, the Westin and the Sheraton. Twas not a bad location either.

What the Borg did after they were discharged...

HI-Sukhumvit
23 Sukhumvit Soi 38,
Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
+66(0) 2 391-9338
http://www.hisukhumvit.com

Dream BKK
10 Sukhumvit Soi 15
Klongtoey Nua, Wattana,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
+66(0) 2 254-8500
http://www.dreambkk.com

UPDATE: Click here. Guess the producer no longer has a job. Or his freedom.

Street food is one of the staples of traveling. In a nutshell, street food is a reflection of the tastes and priorities of the society you're visiting. What does this say about mainland China?

Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said. Link.

Original CCTV report

Now keep in mind that this isn't a a "western propaganda outlet" muckraking to make the motherland look bad, this report was from CCTV, the state propaganda arm! Kudos to whoever approved this story (assuming he still has a job there) and had the guts to see it through...

Really makes you think about where and what you eat and whether or not "cheap food" is such a good deal. I think it depends on where you are. I've usually no qualms about eating from a hawker stand in Singapore or in piss alley in Shinjuku or even one of the remaining Dai Pai Dongs in Hong Kong. Those countries make an effort to regulate food stalls and there are laws and fines that are enforced for violations. Even here in San Francisco there are regulations as such.

But obviously not mainland China. They've got a LOT of work ahead of them...

Here's a Japanese story on the CCTV report...

Maybe I should elaborate. Food Courts in American malls are generally bad. I mean, if a restaurant is in the local mall's food court, chances are that the food is, ahem, pedestrian. Food meant for the masses and designed to appeal to people from Sioux City to Santa Clarita. And the less said about "ethnic" food chains that almost exclusively exist in food courts, the better. Think Panda Express or Sbarro's or even Wolfgang Puck Express for a better idea of what I'm trying to get across here.

You can find good food in here (besides the groceries)

Food Courts in ethnic (read: not Safeway, Vons, Whole Foods or the like) grocery stores however, can be really good. Hell, even my beloved hawker centres in Singapore can be considered "food courts" minus the air-con. If you've got air-con, you then become an indoor food court.

Here in Costa Mesa, you have an udon place, a donburi place and a ramen place and a couple of other places tucked away inside this Mitsuwa Marketplace. Sometimes they are even part of a (gasp!) chain.

There's good eats in this food court. Really.

Santouka Ramen in the food court

In Santouka’s case, they ARE part of a chain of ramen restaurants. From Tokyo. Does that still make them an evil chain? Probably not. Does their ramen deserve the hype? Well, that’s what I’m here to find out, 10 minutes away from John Wayne Airport (SNA), having a late lunch.

What to eat? How about that one on the left bottom corner?

According to ramenramenramen.net and rameniac, they’re part of a Tokyo based chain that is expanding in Southern California. Now I’m normally a Kyushu-men (Tonkotsu broth & stewed pork) kinda guy and this will be the first time I’ve had Ashikawa ramen (pork bone & seafood stock), which hails from Hokkaido. I ordered the #7, the shio ramen combo with the noodles and broth in a bowl and the pork and other condiments on the side (Sally would appreciate that), leaving the springy ramen noodles swimming in the surprisingly light shio broth with sesame seeds by itself. It was great! Although you can't really tell the greatness by that simple statement because it's not in ALL CAPS and in 60 point strong text, because that would be tacky. When you assemble your #7, drop the chasiu into the broth and then bury it under some noodles for a minute to warm it up. Then chew slowly, letting the buttery, meaty goodness coat your tongue before you let it slowly slide down your gullet. So there's something good in THIS food court. Eat here!

The number seven comes with noodles & broth separate from the sides...

...so you can make your own bowl of shio ramen!

If this is what "chain restaurants" can be like, let’s have MORE Japanese food chains in supermarkets!! Santouka's also in West LA too.

Santouka Ramen (inside the Mitsuwa Supermarket)
665 Paularino Avenue
Costa Mesa CA 92676
714-434-1101

I'm not a big fan of carrying lots of cash when I travel (except in Japan) unless it's absolutely necessary. Usually I'll locate my bank's ATMs at my destination so I can withdraw cash as needed. Sometimes though, I'll be making a big purchase that requires a credit card (usually air tickets or hotels/hostels). Unfortunately, most US credit card issuers luuurve to double dip, charging "fees" (I mean "profit") for using your credit card overseas.

Here's a link to banks in the US and the foreign surcharges they levy. Good to know when you're going through the junk mail pile full of credit card offers.

UPDATE: Waaah! You can use your Discover Card on mainland China. No surcharge!

I've got four frens that all turned 40 within the month of March. Typically, for most people, that's a cause for self-reflection and the beginning of the mid-life crisis (for any wisecrackers out there, there's no Porsche in my future). Here in the reality-distortion field that is San Francisco, it's just another special occasion, to rally the troops and to eat and drink well!

The pre-party began on Friday night where six of us assembled at the party venue for wine and steak. Bone in Rib-Eye! And some very fine reds. And last minute party-planning.

Hellboy cuts return! MMMMMMMEAT

After a salt and pepper rub and a thin coat of olive oil, off it goes into the All-Clad!

This is where wine, mushrooms and jus go. Reduction!

Dinner!

The next night's highlights (besides the attendees) included a BV Tapestry Flight. Bottles from 1996-2003 were to be opened and tasted. We opened. And tasted.

Part of Saturday's flight

The wine flowed...

...and was drank

Good wine and happy people

Just so you don't get the wrong idea about these parties, they ARE family friendly. For the first two hours.

Jeon and Son, Solicitors

Christine and a new fren (so shy lah)

This is more par for the course!

Kawaii ne? She wants to learn how to ride a motorcycle. Good for her!

From the left, David, Garren, Wal, Mark. March brats.

Typically, you knew the evening was winding down when karaoke began.

I'm singing i'm singing

Actually, our parties end like this, in a mugging!

When the evening started, this was empty

Unlike the previous parties, this was quite tame. Only about 2/3 of the usual suspects showed up, there was actually more wine at the end of the party than at the beginning and no one wound up barfing in front of the house. Also, there was no X-rated kissing and cleanup was almost Japanese in efficiency. Hopefully, since cleanup was easy this time, there'll be another party here soon!

At last there's another option for getting into Tokyo cheaply without a JR Pass!

Before, the two cheapest options for getting into Tokyo was taking the Keisei Skyliner (Y1920, 62 min) or the Keisei Tokkyu, (Y1000, 74 min). Both trains drop you off at either Ueno or Nippori Stations on the Yamanote Line.

Now as of 28 March, JR East is introducing a combo Suica bundle for Y3500 that has a one way journey on the N'Ex (Narita Express) for Y1500 and also has a Y1500 Suica card that can be used on all the other trains and buses in the Tokyo area. Y500 is the card deposit. The Suica card can be used in stores and some fast food places and can be recharged and reused like an ordinary Suica. It's a good deal since you'll be spending money in Tokyo ANYWAY on things like snacks and transport. With this deal, taking the N'Ex into Tokyo, Shinjuku or even Yokohama is Y1500! Now that's a good deal, and good deals in Tokyo are hard to come by. So now there's one less excuse not to go for Hanami!

Think of this as being JR East's answer to the Hong Kong MTR Tourist Octopus.

(hat tip: Mari's Diary)

My brief visit to Waikiki Beach (5 hours total) over 5 days in O'ahu demonstrates my aversion to known tourist traps. But first, some clarification...

There IS a difference between a tourist trap and a tourist attraction. A tourist trap can be an attraction that has allowed the area surrounding it to get all whored out with businesses whose sole purpose is to relieve dumb tourists from their money, regardless of taste or cost, because they are there.

Examples: Waikiki Beach, Great Wall of China (Mutanyu Section), Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco).

A tourist attraction is an place or item of interest where the "whoring out" that a tourist trap has is either non existent or unnecessary for the place or item of interest to exist as an attraction.

Examples: USS Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri, Diamond Head, North Shore.

I don't think you can accuse the above Hawaiian attractions of being "whored out" or "tourist traps".

Sometimes there are reasons to brave tourist traps. In some cases, it's the only way to visit an ancient wonder (Great Wall) and in other cases, it's the businesses that are part of the tourist trap area. In San Francisco, the only reason to go down there (if you live here) is that the Wharf has The City's only (ONLY) In & Out Burger and Hooters. In Waikiki Beach, there's a firing range (yep) and several good ramen shops. And like the idiot that I am, I went to Waikiki Beach to eat ramen...

The first shop I hit was on my second night in O'ahu. Ezogiku Ramen is a chain of ramen shops that are scattered all over O'ahu along with the original shops in Tokyo and Sapporo.

Yes, I got the addresses to the shops in Japan and they're on my "to eat" list now.

As you walk in, it ain't glam, it ain't frou frou, it's good ramen and beer!

After reading about the history of Ezogiku and its Japanese roots, I asked the waitress (who was bringing me a beer, yeay!) what the specialty of the house was.

Waitress: Miso Ramen
Me: One please!

I'm very easy to please!

The miso had that "zing" that we all love in our miso ramen. Or maybe that was a touch too much MSG. But in either case, it was very well done. The noodles were snappy and the scallions were good too. The slice of cha siu was cold, like it was taken out of an icebox and put onto the bowl and the broth could have been a bit warmer.

Many of the customers inside the shop were Japanese and if I closed my eyes while slurping down the noodles in my bowl, I could imagine I was in Tokyo in some unknown ramen shop. Bliss. Until a squad of PRC tourists came in, excessively loud (in both dress AND volume) and hungry. Then when they all got their food, the slurping began. A great sound!

Guess they love their ramen too...

Ezogiku Ramen Waikiki
2146 Kalakaua Avenue
Waikiki HI 96815
808-926-8616

There ARE differences between shops that share the same name. There's an Ezogiku Ramen on University Avenue down the hill from UH. Other than sharing the name, the ramen here was mediocre. I won't go on further because it was a big disappointment as this was to be my last meal before I caught the red-eye back to the mainland. A word of advice: If you go to a ramen shop and you see the bowls coming out of the kitchen with heaps of bean sprouts on top, think carefully before you order. Too much bean sprouts on bowls of ramen is like sushi maki that's all rice and not enough fish. It's FILLER!

Diner beware...!