December, 2016

忘年します



Everyone is complaining about 2016, but at least your weekly magazine will have random Trump dick comics from now on. メイクチンコグレートアゲイン.







Great road trip in Kyushu this month. Fukuoka to Beppu to Kurokawa Onsen to Kumamoto to Unzen Onsen to Nagasaki. Perfect balance of food, relaxing, booze, hiking, and random extras.



Ramen was legit. By the way, check out my best-of Tokyo list here:

http://www.ramenadventures.com/2016/12/the-best-ramen-in-tokyo-2016.html



The local Oita winery makes a decent sparkling.



And their own custom Asahi.



Climbed a mountain. That's 10 or 11 of the 100 off my list. Will 2017 be the year I'm not lazy?



Kurokawa is neat. A bit touristy, but once you slip into the hot springs, it doesn't really matter.



Aso volcano is currently off limits, ever since the recent seismic activity.



Found a random deer pen on the side of the road.





日本一恥かしい露天風呂. The most embarrassing outdoor bath in Japan. You are literally naked in view of the whole town.



Famous, apparently.





Fat cat is the boss of the onsen egg shop.



Make a detour up along the Ariake Sea if you are in the area for crab and oysters.





One of the three famous night views of the world. I guess. Hong Kong and some other place are also famous.



Dude collects these stickers. He hit me up on twitter (which I don't use) just about daily until I would meet to give him my Ramen Rally sticker. I admire his dedication.





I've had this dish three times now. Once at Restaurant Central in Lima. Once in Tokyo at Restaurant Den with the chef from Restaurant Central. Once in Tokyo with the chef from Restaurant Den who visited Restaurant Central in Lima.





Onion family topped with uni and smoked shark meat.



Local duck with satay sauce.



Taiwanese herbal tea jelly and pink fruits sprinkled with organic rose. Who came up with these?



Chef Andre and Chef Kawate. See you in Taiwan.



With the sea I did abide.





I'm off. Off to smuggle expensive Japanese ingredients across the globe. Wish me luck.

November, 2016

Nvmbr



Bikes! Bastards closed the road up Mt. Fuji because of snow and death, so this shot will have to do (I was planning on an epic shot halfway up the mountain).



Snow for the first time in November in Tokyo in something like 54 years. What to do on a cold day like this?



Eat Japanese shaved ice of course.



And rent bikes. My childhood buddy was in town, so he rented this 400cc Ducati and we drove up to Mt. Fuji. I took a quick spin on it. Love those 400cc bikes on twisty roads. We've talked about all getting 400cc project bikes out here, going all Mad Max on them, but I don't really have an extra place to keep another bike.

And if you think I'm moving somewhere bigger, guess again. Rejected from all the places I applied for. Either my whiteness of freelance status is to blame. Racist capitalist jerks.



My favorite restaurant teamed up with Shake Shack.



And the, a few days later, at that same restaurant . . .



This was the Gelinaz Shuffle, an event where 40 top chefs from around the world get mixed up and sent to other restaurants. Above is none other than Virgilio Martínez Véliz, the chef from Central in Lima. I had just been to his restaurant two months prior. Super random. My only criticism from the spot in Peru was that the chef didn't come by to meet the guests, and now I'm sitting in front of the guy.



The food was fun, and I was the only one there who isn't a full time foodie Instagrammer.



One of the dishes had poor man's caviar; Peruvian grains colored with squid ink.



Then, an hour later, my friend invited me to have some real caviar. Wish you could get these at the local 7-11.



Full-scale replica of a kaiten suicide submarine from WWII.



Now that I have my own sticker, I can stop dreaming.



But Daruma has other things in mind.

New Years resolution: less food shots, lest I become one of those aforementioned full time food Instagrammers.

October, 2016

１０月



Original ramen rally sticker. Only available in person.



I didn't get busted this time.



Cause wagyu fillet isn't rich enough, we need to top it with copious amounts of uni.



Meanwhile, while Tokyo people are stuffing their faces, the countryside continues to provide.



Can't say I mind being woken for this.



Clam diggers.



The raddest sushi dude in Japan. Taihei in Ishikawa-ken.



Yummy. After the parade, he cracked the brain out and made a dish.



Not sure why, but the local tax board loves to send the entire year's worth of tax stuff at once. Pay up sucka.



One of the best sake I've had in a while. Tastes like pure koji, the mold that makes Japanese sake what it is. Very happy to discover this one.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I'm not talking about leaving Japan here, I'm talking about moving from my apartment.

I've heard of a 7 year itch, but I've got a 5.5 year itch to move somewhere a bit nicer. Nicer how? Well, my spot now is pretty legit, the size is good, and it is near a few stations. But there are a few things that suck.

• The bathroom is ancient, a tiny thing meant for a little old lady at best. The tub just takes up space. It is impossible to keep clean.
• There is no view. Not only that, the window is frosted, so during the cold months I get nothing to look at.

For reference, here is a video I took a long time ago:



I'd like to move toward the Shimokitazawa area, which isn't too far from here. A real estate guy at a bar I frequent is helping me out this time. We found a few places that fit my criteria. The first one looked great on paper. A modern building, designer style. The layout is a bit like my current place, without the separate kitchen room, something I don't really feel I need. Japanese kitchens are never nice, and an unventilated room with no windows that takes up 1/3 of the apartment is a waste of space. I'd rather have a smaller kitchen, counter style.



This one is on the 1st floor, but it is actually a sub basement. So no natural light. And the size is just small enough to not work. Not seen in the video was a walk-in closet, which was neat. Cost for this place is around 130,000 yen ($1240)

Next!



This one has a decent layout, but nothing inside was that special. The awesome point being the rooftop balcony. If I really put my mind to it, I could turn that into an amazing deck / chillout space. I don't really have parties out here, so the idea of hosting barbecues and what not would probably never see the light of day. Cost is 150,000 yen ($1430). It's also next to a major road, so noisy AF.

Keep lookin!



Vertical filming, ごめん！I'm digging this spot. Up on the 9th floor of a 15 story building. The view is nice, looking north. You can see a bit of the Shinjuku skyline, but I just like being able to see the sky for once. A bit concerned about the layout, as it has strange diagonal geometry going on. How to visualize a bed?



Lay down some paper! Hmmmm, this might work. I'll probably never close that door, so if I change my current dark sheets for something light it would blend in nicely. Cost is 153,000 yen ($1457).

But wait, there's more!



The same apartment up on the 14th floor. Baller! The price goes up 7000 yen ($66) a month, but you don't have to pay the reikin, which is essentially a gift to the landowner of 1 month rent. So if you do the math, it is almost the same cost over a 2-year period.

Of course, none of these spots have a place for my motorcycle, so that is an extra 5000 - 10,000 yen a month for a spot at a local parking garage.

Time to spend some of that hard-earned ramen money on a life upgrade?

September, 2016

Sept.