Travel Blog - My first trip to Japan - Food and Drink

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(Edited)

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BACKGROUND


This might be my favorite part of Japan. And it gets crazier each time I go. So stay tuned for future pictures (and videos).

But for now, this being my first trip to Japan, I kind of stuck with things I knew, until I was challenged. If you have ever been to the city Formerly known as Koromo, in the bottom of the train station is a gaijin izakaya called Kevin's Bar. The owner has an amazing memory, and if you go there, you become immortalized by his wall of Polaroids. I hope I have pictures of my challenge menu items, but if not, I'll tell the story below.

Now, let's eat and drink!


105 - Fugu shop in Tokyo. I didn't eat here, but that does happen on another trip.

106 - A fishing theme restaurant. Some crazy guys who were sitting at the table next to me.

116 - Sawing tuna into pieces at Tsukiji Market.  On this trip, I saw what I believe was a record tuna caught in Spanish waters. It sold for some obscene number (my bad memory says 36,000,000¥).  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture because my Japanese co-workers were essentially running away from me while the guy was telling me this info.

169 - Boat in Tokyo Harbor catching some stuff for Tsukiji. (Taken on train going to the Tokyo Motor Show 2005, featured on the Cars page).
Cars

283 - Outback in Nagoya. It was suitable, but the beef was not as delicious as the American Outbacks serve. I was talking to an American military person here (thank you for your service, by the way), who told me that it is likely Australian beef, which is why it tasted different. He also asked me if I had a pen and paper to write some info down. I did not. He gave me a pen (which I still have) and said never leave home without a pen and paper.  I never have since!

287 - Beer 🍺 at 11 am on my way somewhere. I was a lot younger then. Maybe you can figure out by the picture number?

363 - My lunch at Suzuka Circuit - Takoyaki - Octopus 🐙 in bread, balled up, and hotter than the Sun. The story is told on the Cars page.
Cars

415 - Iyumi looks at tofu in process outside our lunch spot.

416 - Tofu Shop with many awards to prove it is one of the best tofu in Japan

417 - The egg store and compulsory vending machines. 200¥ / dozen maybe?

418 - Imoto & Iyumi buy 'dango' (glutenous rice cake balls covered in sauce) for us all.

441 - Okonomiyaki being cooked for dinner in Osaka. This was my first visit to Osaka, and I was with my American co-worker, so we were just wandering around looking for stuff.

442 - Dinner in Osaka - Okonomiyaki on left⬅️ is mine. I went back on my next visit to Osaka, with my brother, and could not find this joint.  But I thought it was super famous. The staff all wear green aprons and I swear Anthony Bourdain went here on one of his trips to Japan. Anyone can give me a map pin to this joint, I'd truly appreciate it.

443 - Crab restaurant in Dotombori area. The legs move and it is really eye-catching 👀 for an American, where many cities limit advertising size.

482 - Breakfast before Shinkansen 🚅 ride. Not beer this time. And again, I didn't make a record of where I was going, so let's look in the picture numbers to figure that out.

546 - Yes that is a beer vending machine in Himeji Shinkansen 🚅 Station.

547 - Learning to use the autotimer shutter on my camera 📸 (Yes, this was before affordable cellphones had cameras). And consuming a beer from the vending machine, because Japan 🇯🇵.

549 - Vending machines are everywhere in Japan - This one (I think) was on a train.

596 - Time for lunch in Tokyo. My brother's choice, not mine.

622 - Breakfast at Cafe du Monde, Tokyo. I've also been to the one in New Orleans, but not sure I have pictures of that.

Yebisu Beer Museum, Tokyo


This is my go to joint in Tokyo. I've been there every trip, except the last one in 2022-Nov (it was closed, probably lingering endemic and remodeling reasons). This was the only time I visited with this layout, so it seems like they change it frequently. But it gets better every time. And it just so happens, I am wearing a Yebisu t-shirt while writing this blog today. A Japanese co-worker's wife agrees with me that this is the best mass-produced Japanese beer 🍺. Do you agree?
623 - The original beer kettle for Yebisu.

624 - The most interesting display at Yebisu Beer Museum.

625 - The vending machine to buy your beer at Yebisu Beer Museum.

626 - Little red ticket gets you 4 beers for USD 4.00 . Best beer prices in Tokyo!


639 - Fugu shop in Shinjuku.  Didn't eat at this one either. That comes on a future trip.

661 - The ultimate travel gift. Doraemon omiyagi.

667 - Title of this photo: 'The Takoyaki Professionals'. This is a long story because most of the pictures have our faces in them. If you know the secret web link, you'll be able to glean more info. But for those of you who are interweb-only friends, find the story below.

The story about this takoyaki. A Japanese co-worker 🙎‍♂ invited me and my American co-worker to his house for dinner, after work one night. We were both honored and had so much fun. The food was so superb, and the company was too. Our Japanese co-worker 🙎‍♂, his wife 🚶‍♀, his brand new baby girl 👶, and a friend of theirs 👧. We ate many things (as you can see here), played games, drank beer and just had the most awesome time. I hope to meet them again in the future, if only to say "hello" again.


Only went to these in order to get shot glasses for a friend who collected them. Didn't even eat there, thankfully.
588-Hard Rock Cafe-Osaka Hommachi.JPG

614-Hard Rock Cafe - Tokyo-Ueno.JPG

629-The last Hard Rock in Japan - Tokyo Roppongi.JPG


The Lounge in Narita


This is what robots 🤖 should be!
706.1 - First put the glass on the machine and push the button.

706.2 - The machine tilts the glass and pours the beer 🍺.

706.3 - Then it tilts back a little to get more beer 🍺 in the glass.

706.4 - Then it straightens up and a big head is put on top.

The best (and only) robot 🤖 beer 🍺 I've ever had!


CONCLUSION


So that's the complete trip to Japan 🇯🇵 for my first time. The food was so delicious that I'm pretty sure I gained weight. Maybe I can blame it on my (small amount) hair, since I was afraid to get my hair cut when I was there. I had so much fun and look forward to sharing the rest of the pics with my face-to-face friends and family. The future trips will be coming as soon as I can get them out, but I might change continents first, just to get some variety in the space-time continuum.

I am hopeful that the J-Skip visa program may allow me to move there semi-permanently. We will see. The timing is not great, but if this job search drags on long enough, it might work out.

And please ask questions in the comment section below. I'd be happy to answer almost anything.

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