Impressions of daily life in Japan
I was quite confused when I encountered the fruit in the picture below. It's shaped like an apple. But the colour doesn't seem quite right. Would it be alright to just eat this? Or does it need cooking first? After enquiring with the helpful store personnel, I found out that this is a pear! But... Continue Reading →
Recently I've accepted the challenge of cooking Japanese meals at home. I had been putting it off for quite some time but there was no escaping it anymore. While 'just having moved to Japan' is an excellent excuse to eat out a lot (read: every night), after two months it really was time to do... Continue Reading →
Eel is a popular dish in Japan, especially in summer. It is believed to give you stamina so as to better endure the summer heat. Moreover, grilled eel is a Nagoya speciality. Needless to say I was excited when my friend Mari-san proposed to go to the most famous eel restaurant in Nagoya: Hōraiken. It's... Continue Reading →
During our recent trip to Hokkaido, we enjoyed a host of new culinary experiences. The most spectacular one was without a doubt the sashimi dish that came with the fish's still moving head in the middle. I'm not squeamish about food, but this did make me think twice before digging in. But then again, it's... Continue Reading →
An izakaya - best compared with a tavern or a bar that also serves food - seems to be a great place to meet people. In a previous post you could read about our encounter with Asahi-san on our first evening in Japan (click here to read the post). A few nights ago, we had... Continue Reading →
A collegue of Dennis recommended a nice ramen restaurant to us. Thursday evening we decided to check it out. We consulted the restaurant's website and concluded that it should be about 30 min. by car. The only thing we needed was the restaurant's telephone number, to input into the gps. Japanese navigation systems can recognize... Continue Reading →
The Japans 