2020 Shimokitazawa curry festival ( 下北沢カレーフェス)
Hi again! I'm back! Now, if you are regular readers of this blog you will know that I no longer live in Japan. I moved back to Australia last year. Since then, I have been wondering what to do...
View ArticleImmerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman: a true traditional...
I have a folder in my bookmarks on my computer titled "blog places". Whenever I stumble across something that looks interesting and looks worth a visit I save it there. I often forget that the folder...
View ArticleGyoza Stadium - Sunshine City, Ikebukuro
I have mentioned numerous times here that the Japanese love their food, adore it and even build food themed attractions to celebrate their food. I have written about one such "food theme park", the...
View ArticleCovid-19 update - The best laid plans
For about 1/3 of my working life I was an English teacher and I loved doing that. I miss that job and I miss all of my students (some of whom will be reading this. Hi!! I am doing well.). It will...
View ArticleI'm back!!
Hi! Long time no see, and what a journey the last 2 years have been. If you had been a regular reader / follower of my blog you haven't heard from me in a year and a half and you would have noticed...
View Article2018 Shimokitazawa curry fes the second visit (下北沢カレーフェス).
It was inevitable that I made a second trip back to Shimokitazawa for round 2 of the curry fes so off I went again. Now I recently moved and now it is over an hour from home to Shimokitazawa (oh the...
View Article2018 Shimokitazawa curry fes the first visit (下北沢カレーフェス).
Yesterday I jumped on the train with an empty stomach and headed off to Shimokitazawa to sample some of the curries on offer. When you get to Shimokitazawa exit the station and start walking. Pretty...
View Article2018 Shimokitazawa curry fes
Just a quick heads up about the Shimokitazawa curry festival. This is a yearly event in which many restaurants, cafes, bars etc in the Shimokitazawa area create their own unique curry dish. It is on...
View ArticleKyoto revisited - Gion
One of the most iconic (and thus one of the most crowded) places in Kyoto is Gion. This district kind of sums up Kyoto. Traditional, old, beautiful, and historic. It is one of the busiest places in...
View ArticleKyoto revisited - Arashiyama
Hi everyone. Just a really brief post. I am currently in Kyoto for about a week. More posts will follow, however I wanted to do a quick post today to talk about an experience I had today. Almost 5...
View ArticleNaha's castle - Shuri castle (Shurijo - Naha, Okinawa 首里城)
As you know from a post last year (Charlies tacos), I took a trip down to Okinawa with good friend Tetsuya. One of the places that we wanted to visit was Shuri castle.Shuri castle was built back in...
View ArticleAn Epic Journey - Katsuura, Chiba
First of all, I apologise for the recent lack of activity here. For a variety of reasons I lost focus on the blog over the last 12 months or so. The blog became hard work and thus the number of posts...
View ArticleNo ramen no life - Tokyo ramen show
I have a very good friend who I used to work with called Jorge. He, like me, is a ramen lover. Jorge, however, takes it to a whole nother level. After Jorge left Japan, he moved to Brussels,...
View ArticleOkinawan gourmet - Charlie's tacos in Naha (taco rice)
I recently had an opportunity to go to Okinawa (the southernmost islands of the Japanese archipelago) with my friend Tetsuya. Now, Tetsuya is from Okinawa and has been there many times as well as...
View ArticleOne of Japan's top 100 castles - Hachioji castle (八王子城)
At the end of the last post I left a message inviting people to leave me a message with a letter of the English alphabet and a number. What I would then do would be to find a train line in the Greater...
View ArticleDining at an icon - oyakodon at Tamahide
It's not often that you hear of a restaurant that has been open for 257 years (at the time of writing, having opened in 1760). It's even less often that you get a chance to eat at such a restaurant....
View ArticleTour of a Japanese sake (日本酒) brewery - Ishikawa sake brewery (石川酒造)
My sister Kylie and her partner Paul along with 2 of their friends recently came over to Japan for a week and before coming I asked them what they would like to do while here. One of their requests...
View ArticleThe original katsu curry (かつカレ) - Ginza Swiss (銀座スイス)
One of my favourite meals (although it's only a "sometimes" food as too much consumption can have a negative impact on the waistline...) is called katsu curry (katsu is breaded, deep fried pork...
View ArticleA nostalgic hot spring hideaway - Shima Onsen (四万温泉) Part 3
This is part 3 of a write-up about a recent trip to Shima Onsen. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. I woke up from my nap feeling totally refreshed and ready for dinner. I decided to head back...
View ArticleA nostalgic hot spring hideaway - Shima Onsen (四万温泉) Part 2
This is part 2 of a blog post about a recent trip to Shima Onsen. You can find part 1 here. I woke up the next morning to a breakfast of champions minus the obligatory natto (the lovely and thoughtful...
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