On one trip to Japan, I randomly decided to find the best burger (one thing I'd always found lacking on the rare occasions I tried it). I found a few places that "looked" amazing (great Japanese presentation), but were disappointing. I also eventually found a few places that, while different, rivaled the In N Out burger for satisfaction (I finished one ten minutes ago, so I feel very qualified). Interestingly, all the good ones use Australian beef and not Japanese (American is still mostly unavailable). One that used Kobe beef was decent, but not my favorite. Unfortunately, the best burger places were all easily over $10. I can look up the details if someone's interested in going - my favorite was around Gaienmae if I recall.

Am I the only one in this thread who likes Japanese food? (和食)

Going back a few pages, but I thought this was funny. Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing many chubsters in France, although I was imagining myself getting fat if I lived there having regular patisserie access.

http://gigazine.jp/img/2007/05/18/fat_list/fat_list.png

All I know is that if the Brits exported those chocolate muffins (like the ones at Gregg's) to the US, Americans would be exploding left and right.

I lost a lot of weight when I was in Japan because I didn't need a car, and I put it right back on when I came back to the US because I couldn't get anywhere without one. I'm sure part of it was also the diet, because it's easy to have a wretched diet here, but in Japan, I could walk to places I needed to get to rather easily, while where I live in the US, it's just not feasible.

dusmar84 Wrote:Am I the only one in this thread who likes Japanese food? (和食)

You do realize that people have been talking about burgers because it's on topic (Mezbup mentioned having one), not because it's their preference?

dusmar84 Wrote:Am I the only one in this thread who likes Japanese food? (和食)

Nope Japanese food is great soup curry, shabu shabu, soba, oden, sushi, yakitori, yakuniku, etc.

For me burgers are a last resort but saying that freshness burgers bean burger is really good.

＠Tzadeck I do realize that. I was referring more so to the comments about Japanese food being bland and preferring to shop at western grocery stores instead.

mezbup Wrote:Kobe was sweeeet!!!! Got so many pictures of the night lights. Took a 2 hour tour of 六甲山 which was wicked. Great view from up the top at the garden terraces. Rode the gondola too. My driver for the tour taught me all kinds of interesting stuff about Kobe.

So far I think Kobe has been the best. If I had to live anywhere in Japan on a permanent basis Kobe feels like it'd be the best place. It's relaxed, it's pretty, it has awesome night scenery, it's by the sea.

I lived in Kobe during my first two years in Japan and after visiting and living in other places in Japan I can easily say I still want to go back.

Today was an interesting day. I was going to be taken to see the temples of Kyoto but then midway through the drive there it gets decided that we will go to the deep countryside instead. I have no problem with this cos I just go with the flow, like long drives and enjoy countryside scenery.

So the drive was stunning. Japan's countryside in summer is spectacular and being from NZ I appreciate good scenery. So we drove like 3.5 hours (took a bit of a long route) and visited like a tiny little village, at lunch there n so on. We visited like an Edo period style house which was surprisingly 涼しい for it being 36 degrees (celcius) out! Although, I encountered a bee. I have a phobia of bees which rears it's head at the ugliest and most un-opportune of times, of which this was one. So we couldn't hang round there for too long but needless to say a real slice of Edo life chilling out sitting on the floor, sippin on some tea and enjoying a cool breeze in the beautiful countryside made for a nice day. Until the bees came.

Got some decent photos of the countryside too! It was kinda cool because a few days before I went to Japan I found a picture of a country road in summer time (in Japan) and I was talking about it with my flatmate... ah man this just makes me wanna go for a long drive. Today that wish totally came true so I'm rather thrilled cos it was every bit as spectacular as the picture I found alluded it would be. Except for the bees.

When we got home we had すき焼き for dinner! I've had it at Korean restaurants before with friends but never really enjoyed it or found it that fantastic. However, sitting round the table with a nice family and doing it proper Japanese style... really made the difference for me. It was a great experience and of course it was delicious.

I've nearly finished reading a book I bought only a few days ago! 東大生が選んだ勉強法. Its an easy read if you're at JLPT1 level and highly recommend for anyone who is either serious about study or enjoys study in general. This book is chock full of the most solid study advice I've heard of in a long time. I've not been able to put it down. Whilst reading it I realised that about 1/3 of the advice in there is stuff I do on a regular basis without even thinking about it. Its just study habits that have developed over the years as a means to cope with a brutal Anki. You just HAVE to find effective ways to study or you can't keep up, so you do. And they work! Anyways, this book has given me a whole lot more new study tips and ideas that hopefully will pay off at Uni. I may also memorize a few of the explanations of study methods as A: it'll help my Japanese a little right? and B: it will be useful in explaining good study methods/tips to people in Japanese, using perfect, clever sounding Japanese. Haha. Win win right???

Tomoz, i'm going by train to Kyoto and we're going to see the temples. Then I guess I gotta pack my luggage and return to whence I came! Ahhhh... what a summer it's been.

dusmar84 Wrote:＠Tzadeck I do realize that. I was referring more so to the comments about Japanese food being bland and preferring to shop at western grocery stores instead.

I thought they were referring to Japanese attempts at Western food, e.g. Bread, pizza, etc. Not actual Japanese food. Could anyone seriously call authentic Japanese food bland? o_O

SammyB Wrote:Could anyone seriously call authentic Japanese food bland? o_O

Maybe it is my karma, but the smell of fish makes me feel like vomiting.

@Mezbup
Make a one day side trip to Nara and visit 東大寺 (early in the morning is best) and pet the deer at Nara park. Better yet, watch the Japanese people run in terror from these peaceful creatures when Bambi gets a little forward

there's a restaurant here in la that serves kyoto-style oden, which is often criticized as being bland. =)

i heard that american-style pizza in japan is pretty terrible (i've had it once and agree), but i also heard there was an italian wave a couple years ago, which meant everyone was trying to reproduce napoletana pizzas and getting authentic ovens and everything.

If I misread and the comment was that Japanese attempts at Western food is bland then I would agree. Speaking of an Italian boom, in my neighbourhood, which is decently sized, there has to be at least 5 Italian restaurants within a 5 minute walk of each other. I have never tried any of them because of some disappointing experiences with Italian food here in the past. The Japanese take on pasta doesnt do anything for me. This could be due to the fact that my dad's side of the family is Italian but still...

mezbup Wrote:So the drive was stunning. Japan's countryside in summer is spectacular and being from NZ I appreciate good scenery. So we drove like 3.5 hours (took a bit of a long route) and visited like a tiny little village, at lunch there n so on. We visited like an Edo period style house which was surprisingly 涼しい for it being 36 degrees (celcius) out! Although, I encountered a bee. I have a phobia of bees which rears it's head at the ugliest and most un-opportune of times, of which this was one. So we couldn't hang round there for too long but needless to say a real slice of Edo life chilling out sitting on the floor, sippin on some tea and enjoying a cool breeze in the beautiful countryside made for a nice day. Until the bees came.

Was the town called Miyama (美山--part of Nantan city) by any chance? If so, were the houses かやぶきの里?

http://www.kayabukinosato.com/

Yeah that was the one! Was neat.

Anyways, today went to 金閣寺 and 銀閣寺 and also to 清水. It was ridiculously hot but they were fabulous spots to visit. It's funny cos those places there's lots of tourists and stick out like a sore thumb and you're like wow a gaijin and then you stop and you realise you're one too for a minute. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it so much cos you speak Japanese and whatnot but at the end of the day....

I've been really lucky whilst i've been in Osaka because my friends dad is a social studies teacher (aswell as being a really nice guy!) and so he knows lots of stuff in detail about Japanese history and what not. So the whole time he was showing me around Nara and Kyoto he taught me all sorts of interesting stuff about the places we visited and the periods in history in which they were built. It's sparked a bit of a deeper interest in Japanese history...

Tomoz I'm heaading out the door earlier to catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo where i'll make my way back from whence I came. Ah, a sad day indeed. Though it's kinda weird because the whole time it has felt like I've had no plan to go home but just stay there on a long term basis. I guess... that's how it felt. Kinda, neatly comfortable.

This trip has given me a lot of things to think about, as well as a lot of motivation! I really want to come back here and spend a whole year in 2013. The same time I'll take a shot at the entrance exams while I'm here.... if I get in, why on earth not?

mezbup Wrote:I've nearly finished reading a book I bought only a few days ago! 東大生が選んだ勉強法. Its an easy read if you're at JLPT1 level and highly recommend for anyone who is either serious about study or enjoys study in general. This book is chock full of the most solid study advice I've heard of in a long time. I've not been able to put it down. Whilst reading it I realised that about 1/3 of the advice in there is stuff I do on a regular basis without even thinking about it. Its just study habits that have developed over the years as a means to cope with a brutal Anki. You just HAVE to find effective ways to study or you can't keep up, so you do. And they work! Anyways, this book has given me a whole lot more new study tips and ideas that hopefully will pay off at Uni. I may also memorize a few of the explanations of study methods as A: it'll help my Japanese a little right? and B: it will be useful in explaining good study methods/tips to people in Japanese, using perfect, clever sounding Japanese. Haha. Win win right???
.

Thanks for the tip! I've been looking for a good book like this for a bit, but have yet to find one in any language (a good one, that is). I just found out they have this in the NYC Kinokuniya, and I'll be in the neighborhood today. I'll definitely be picking this up to read after A Dance with Dragons.

can't wait till I go to Japan. I'll be sure to make a thread just like Mezbup. Although, I'm going to go crazy with my camera lol.

mezbup Wrote:Yeah that was the one! Was neat.

Haha, that's crazy that you went to 美山!

Anyway, Miyama and another town called Keihoku used to make up a 'city' called Kitakuwada. And I lived in Keihoku for two years. The population of Miyama and Keihoku have been falling for a long time, so about eight years ago Miyama became part of Nantan city and Keihoku became part of Kyoto city.

The schools, however, are still set up as if Keihoku and Miyama were in the same city. So for those two years I taught once a week at a small school of about forty kids, up the street from かやぶきの里. Miyama is a really beautiful area, but man is it really countryside. There's less than 3,000 people, and spread out along a big big area. (Even Keihoku is only about 6,000)

Anyway, I used to go past かやぶきの里 all the time, because there is a nature center up the road. They have a really nice outdoor bath, so in the winter I would go warm myself up after work. It's great because there's no people in Miyama, so generally you just had this big outdoor bath with a great view to yourself. And if it was snowing I'd sometimes stop to take pictures at the thatched roof houses. I also brought my ex girlfriend there once, and we went into some of the houses like you did^^

Miyama also has a lot of local products that you can get at small shops around town. Before I leave Japan I really should rent a car and go out there one last time.

K, so I dun know if you can see these or not but it's set to public so hope so. I finally uploaded all my pics to facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a...1254098232

and

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a...1254098232

Japan is so funny

that was singapore airport!

I want to visit Singapore now just to see that room and the people in it!!

bodhisamaya Wrote:Japan is so funny

Those are all over the world, that's nothing unusual.