Posted by
che, around September 2007:
RAWK!
The hotel has net access so we should be ok.
:D
RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWK!
Posted by
WarHead, around 2nd October 2007:
Business or pleasure?
And did you pack this case yourself, sir?
Posted by
che, around 2nd October 2007:
pleasure :)
Posted by
Gary, around 2nd October 2007:
Have a fabulous time, Che!
Notice he didn't answer the second of your questions, WarHead - I think we'll take that as a no. :P
Posted by
Saltation, around 2nd October 2007:
"these photos -- your daughter, sir?"
Posted by
syl, around 2nd October 2007:
Seems like a fabulous city! Enjoy :)
Posted by
syl, around 3rd October 2007:
Doc, you are never on MSN! :(
Posted by
WarHead, around 3rd October 2007:
Me neither. They've scuppered it at t'office.
I really genuinely am never on MSN.
Actually, do you even have the right MSN contact for me? It's not my email address. On msn I'm fishbucket at hotmail. But I never really use it. I might do more if I get the internet at home.
Posted by
Gary, around 3rd October 2007:
I'm
always on MSN, but nobody talks to me. :'(
Posted by
WarHead, around 3rd October 2007:
That's because you're an international man of mystery .... or, to put it another way, we haven't got your addy (well,
I haven't, in fact I know next to nowt about you as you didn't post here all that much by the time I'd arrived.)
Do you have a flickr account? Do you blog somehwere? I think we should be told.
Posted by
Grim..., around 3rd October 2007:
I am properly jealous.
Posted by
Miki, around 3rd October 2007:
have a great time!
Posted by
Saltation, around 3rd October 2007:
don't be, grim...: you too can get an msn a/c and log into flickr and blog. if you apply on the nhs for hand transplants, you could do all 3 at the same time! also, you might then be able to fly to japan on the cheap, manually. wave at che as you land -- you should have a spare hand during descent.
che: if you get a chance, check out all the funky JP-only electronic gadgets!!
Posted by
Gary, around 3rd October 2007:
That's because you're an international man of mystery .... or, to put it another way, we haven't got your addy (well, I haven't, in fact I know next to nowt about you as you didn't post here all that much by the time I'd arrived.)
Do you have a flickr account? Do you blog somehwere? I think we should be told.
Okay, that's fair comment, WarHead. I used to be fairly active here several years back - you'd have to go back through the Discussion Archives to read my missives (if they go back that far) - but I switched from active poster to occasional poster by the time you arrived. You already know you only have to mention the name 'Mariah' to summon me, though. :P
I do have a Flickr account, but I've not used it yet:
www.flickr.com/photos/gaznet
My musical tastes live here:
www.last.fm/user/gaznet
My blog lives here:
www.gaznet.com
Posted by
WarHead, around 3rd October 2007:
Whew ... it took me YONKS to read all the archives on gaznet, but I feel I have a better insight to the enigma that is/was Gary.
Posted by
che, around 3rd October 2007:
tokyo is rocking so far.
although we only got here a few hours ago abd im jetlagged big time so i feel a bit like Bill Murray in lost in translation. which is no bad thing cos Murray is the man.
Anyway im off to bed
oh and EVERYTHING has fish on, so we are screwed. Ate in an *english* pub for dinnner, had mushroom and chips. how british.
byeeee!
Posted by
Miki, around 3rd October 2007:
I thought Lost in translation was rubbish.
Hope you find some non-fish food soon!
Posted by
Saltation, around 3rd October 2007:
wot, no fish on your chips?
Posted by
Saltation, around 3rd October 2007:
sushi and chips. i just got a chill down the spine.
Posted by
su, around 4th October 2007:
apparently the trick is to order the sides in japan
almost all are non meat :D
Proper Genki. When Ms Flack was in Japan she made a sign with little 'road signs' denoting all members of the animal kingdom that she was not going to be eating. I think if you show them a sign with a big fish crossed out on it they might leave the fish stock out. It takes a bit of imagination. At least you're not in China. How does the Chinese proverb go? "Anything with four legs .. apart from a table. Anything with two legs .. apart from a human. Anything with no legs." (Fact.)
There's a lot of Vegetarian sushi about as well... that's pretty easy to spot. Just don't drink the Miso soup!
Oh, that's the other thing. If you tell them you are Buddhist, they might take your vegetarianism more seriously. But I have no idea how to say "No Fish please we're Buddhist" in Japanese...
Oh and have a great time! Be sure to get plenty of broken english!
Posted by
Sul, around 7th October 2007:
Buy my wig already!
Posted by
Grim..., around 7th October 2007:
Take your shoes off before going indoors (or into changing rooms)!
Posted by
Saltation, around 7th October 2007:
if it starts to crawl off the plate, the long-pronged fork is for pinning it down.
seriously.
Posted by
Sul, around 7th October 2007:
If you get to fuck it before you eat it, I want the address.
seriously.
Posted by
Saltation, around 7th October 2007:
that's not quite what i meant by a long-pronged fork
Posted by
Saltation, around 7th October 2007:
show-off
Posted by
che, around 8th October 2007:
Thanks for the tips guys.
@Grim... that advice came a few days too late! I thought the changing room attendent lady was going to cry when I jumped into the changing room shoes first. Oops!
Sul: I cant find your wig I'm afraid. Anything else you want? There are loads of cartoon character things and weird shit out of those machines with the plastic balls that vend weird keyrings etc. No pants as yet though. And the pants would probably be out of my price range.
Oh and we managed to find stuff to eat, though mainly pizzas and spaghetti (which is fairly close to noodles but with more tomato and less fish) Saw some tasty looking whole squids/octopi and also some really yummy looking tenticles-on-a-stick(TM).
Oh and went to a place today which had an even higher proportion of freaks than iamcal does.
I mean serious freaks. There was a guy that looked like Tubbs, wearing a massive dress, having a picnic on the street whilst taking pictures of himself. They are all nuts. Really, truly Barking.
Posted by
Saltation, around 8th October 2007:
pizza and spaghetti? travel the world to find what you left?
if you can't handle the overweirdness of raw stuff or the overdosing on weird fish, try the tiny tiny holeinthewall type noodle places. delish. the fried noodles are like a slightly more savoury version of spaghetti, and with a meat sauce will be bolognese-esque so a gentle introduction. often they have pictures on the menus or plastic models of the dishes -- just point!
also, try "yakitori" -- ultra delicious and reminiscent of topflight north italian food. yakitori eel in particular is my favourite: it's like thin non-fishy halibut fillets in a sauce that will rock your world -- closest equivalent you might have tried: roast duck in a rich (heavily reduced and sticky) plum & wine sauce. but on a bed of sweet rice.
Posted by
Sul, around 8th October 2007:
They're both Veggies, Sal. They're fucking weird.
Posted by
Saltation, around 8th October 2007:
so hammer the noodle-places' veggie options. squillions. ditto the veggie-only yakitori dishes. japan is a veggie's heaven.
Posted by
Saltation, around 8th October 2007:
tempura veg- veggie fish&chips but done EDIBLY/TASTILY instead of standard uk ick
Posted by
Gary, around 9th October 2007:
Oi! No Vegetarian bashing! >.<
Posted by
Sul, around 9th October 2007:
Why not? It's not like they've got the strength to defend themselves.
Posted by
Saltation, around 9th October 2007:
hear hear
anyway -- what bashing was there? i saw (and certainly intended) only pointers.
nyer.
paranoiac self-victimisers. i'd say "nyer" again, but you'd probably only take it the wrong way. nyerisers.
Posted by
che, around 10th October 2007:
Just so you know Salt, you popping up and knowing everything about everything in any given convo is exactly why Ive always longed for an ignore button on here. I mean if we had been travelling to outer mongolia travelling only by helicopter and yak, you would pop up and tell us about when you did the same or perhaps wrote a book about it or how there is a charming little place to stay just over the hill and to the left of the brown yak.
Just re-read yourself and see why I might have that opinion.
But hey thanks for sharing. And no its not a vege paradise, there are very few vege options on any of the menus weve asked for. Vege Tempura yes thats good, but two of the other meals we were given which we had been told were vege turned out to have prawns and fish hiding in them, and everything else seems to be cooked in fish oil. If we ate fish then yeah its fucking heaven, but no, we are vegetarian, so we dont eat fish. Oh and if I want to eat things i enjoy eating when Im on my holiday then I will.
xxx
Posted by
che, around 10th October 2007:
oh and i love noodles, I just dont like it when they turn out to have tiny pink faces hiding in them.
Posted by
che, around 10th October 2007:
appologies salt, Im fucking knackered, emma is coughing her lungs out and we just went on a bus to mt fuji in fog so thick I couldnt see the prawns i was trying not to eat, a foot in front of my face! Apparently there was a mountain there somewhere too, but I must have "mist" it.
Im slightly ratty.
and so is this meal.
Still its been rockin up till today (which was something of a washout) but the weather is looking to pick up tomorrow.
And we are off to Kyoto, so that should be good!
:D
Next time you're in Cornwall, I'd advise you try one of their delightful 'pasties'. It's a selection of meat, potatoes and gravy, lovingly enclosed in pastry, with a thick crust, originally designed for the miners to hold. You might have tried something called a "steak and kidney pie". They're a bit like that, only a different shape (along the lines of a semi-circle), and with potatoes instead of kidneys.
Posted by
Saltation, around 10th October 2007:
doc rocs
i hesitate to say this in case you misinterpret this too as point scoring or status seeking or something:
but,
if you're veggie, it can be useful to say "buddhist" when ordering food in asia. (sorry, can't remember japanese version pronunciation)
ie, point and say "buddhist?", they will sort out (fully) veggie option.
sorry, just got back -- too pissed/tired to remember how to say it in phonetically immediately understandable japanese. but then, if i did, that'd probably just be me scoring points or showing off or something, rather than trying to benefit someone. so fuck me.
Posted by
Saltation, around 10th October 2007:
oo, ta doc. pasty?
*munch*
mmm... ratty
Shorely shome mishtake...
Oh, that's the other thing. If you tell them you are Buddhist, they might take your vegetarianism more seriously. But I have no idea how to say "No Fish please we're Buddhist" in Japanese...
- me, a week ago today...
Posted by
Saltation, around 13th October 2007:
oops, sorry. had been talking about szechuan "food" with an aussie mate who's also veggie and he'd just reminded me of how he survived in asia.
as always, doc first with the news that matters
Posted by
Redmaiden, around 18th October 2007:
We are back from Japan yesterday. It's mental. Sadly a lack of pants in vending machines though.
Posted by
Sul, around 18th October 2007:
Got my Post Card yesterday. Thanks muchly. :)
Posted by
che, around 19th October 2007:
Again appologies to Salt for biting his head off. :)
And Japan was very awesome
Oh and we ended up with plenty of vege food, both western style and japanese style. so that was nice.
Posted by
Saltation, around 19th October 2007:
huzzah for the veggies-fedness!
not so good for the poor vegetables, of course. but that's what you get if you refuse to evolve, right? right!
Posted by
Saltation, around 19th October 2007:
in other news, viognier is just the best white wine ever. ever!
Posted by
Miki, 19th October 2007:
welcome back!
and also thanks for the postcard!
Posted by
che, 19th October 2007:
Hooray it arrived!