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 →
The summer in Japan is drawing to an end. Yesterday school started again and typhoon number 12 is making for gloomy and rainy weather. Time for a retrospective on summer in Japan. Weather - Before coming here, everyone had warned me about the 'crazy Japanese summer' and the especially the crazy weather. I thought people... 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 →
As some of you may or may not have noticed, I have been afk for while. For the non-geeks among you: afk means away from keyboard. The reason was our trip to Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan. Like many Japanese companies, Toyota had decided to send all of their employees on a mandatory... Continue Reading →
The Japans 