Visiting Japan

[hembrook]

I am going to visit a friend in Japan starting Friday. Anything I should look for or pickup (besides school-girl looking punk chicks with loads of Hello Kitty apparel and blue hair?)

Thanks!

[TerrySmith]

I work for a large Japanese automotive supplier, I may possibly get a free trip to Japan for training!

[hembrook]

That is still a deal. Never been that far East (West?) I lived in Hawaii for 2 years, that's as close as I got.

[SDS-PAGE]

I would look for OTPs. Maybe, Tango, Tamura, Hashitomo or old Sansui irons? Asia is ok. India was alright though. I got bored living there. What I find most entertaining is food. Real sashimi, kimchi, and tandoori chicken....
Go to Korea (not North) while you're at it. Shopping's better there.

[crispycircuit]

Outputs!.... and Alp's pots and Alp's balance pots with the center detent. High quality tube sockets. I wonder if the dollar will get a good deal??

[77seriesIII]

meow....

[hembrook]

meow....

Here kitty... HELLO Kitty!

[EWBrown]

IIRC, the "Akihabara" (I probably mangled the spelling) area of Tokyo is the "electronics" paradise over there. Kind of like the long-gone Radio Row in NYC. Which got torn down in the 1960s, in order to make room for the now-gone World Trade Center...

Just keep in mind that the scale of economics in Japan is VERY high, the locals make big $$$ (or big Yen) but everything there is equally super-expensive,... Perhaps "bargains" can be found in Akihabara, but I wouldn't bet the bank on it.

Then Tokyo and the rest of Japan has an affinity for what is known as "getamono" or "bizarre food" ,and just about anything that swims, flies, crawls or walks is eligible.... One such restaurant is oddly named "Asadachi" which literally translates to "morning erection". :o Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_02 Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_04

http://www.babblog.com/Aug_04/080904_M_TV.htm

This one has shown up on The Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern. I won't go into the gory details of the "Cobra Special" from Hanoi... :o Or "Balut" from the Phillipines, it's lunchtime around here... Or wok-fried bats in Changmai in Thailand... Nothing like some yummie flying rodents to finish off a long day of off the beaten path trekking...


/ed B in NH

[hembrook]

Nothing quite like Balut BLORT! (wipes chin, apologizes profusely)

[Shannon Parks]

This one has shown up on The Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern. I won't go into the gory details of the "Cobra Special" from Hanoi... :o Or "Balut" fromthe Phillipines, it's lunchtime around here...

That show and Anthony Bourdain's are two of the best shows right now - fun stuff. I can't believe they have a disclaimer at the start of the show as it is one of the more educational pieces on TV.

[EWBrown]

When I was over in Viet Nam (fortunately not active combat) we used to "double dog dare" each other when it came to trying the local "cuisine". I know for sure I had tried dog, monkey, cat and probably snake meat, but at least it was cooked, and tasted OK, and I didn't get the"montezumas revenge" or any other bad after-effects. I usually found out what it was, AFTER the fact :o Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_09 Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_06

I didn't go for anything raw (vegetables or flesh) , or too bizarre like Tokay Gecko on a Stick, frogs, turtles, insects, rat meat, or palpitating snake hearts in a glass of rice "wine" (more like rice moonshine, it was like rocket fuel). To me, sushi and sashimi and their equivalents are still fishin' bait and not for human consumption. As I say, Eat Sushi: Only when you really are into intestinal worms.... :o

Then there was "nuoc mam" which was a fermented fish sauce, which could be smelled miles away as it fermented in the big clay pots under the hot tropical sun.

Then there was the infamous "whale jerky" incident in Alaska :o but that's a whole 'nuther story...

Southeast Asian rice paddies and vegetable farms and gardens were "fertilized" with what was kindly referred to as "night soil", which was picked up every morning by the "honey wagon" and delivered to the growers... . IE, human solid waste, along with water buffalo droppings, etc... Not a recipe for a long and healthy life without disease... Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_21

THere was a reason we used to call it "the turd world"....

/ed B in NH

[hembrook]

next to a jar of Tony Chachere's Cajun spice mix, Rudy's Barbeque Sause (sic) and a bottle of Mexican vanilla. I love world culture...

[hembrook]

I went to Akibahara, and picked up some transformers and chokes. I'll post more later.

[EWBrown]

Andrew AZimmern's "BALUT" show was on again a couple nights ago

BLORT !!!!!!!!!!!!!


The recipe: Fertilized duck eggs, let them develop fir 18 days, then steam them to "terminate" and cook the contents. Peel, sprinkle on some salt and vinegar, and enjoy... (If you can even manage to hold it down) :o

First I ever heard of those nasty things was from a friend who had been in the Navy, and was stationed at Subic Bay, and the local city (Alangopo AKA Po Town) was one of those strange kind of places where absolutely anything goes, just let your most lurid imagination run free... :o

His encounter with Balut(s) was after a night of heavy drinking, and after some "double dog dares", he tried to do the "Cool Hand Luke" act, but everything came back up after Balut Number Six... Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_09 Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_13 Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_16

/ed B in NH

[SteveH]

Interesting stuff...
I will be on a trip to ShangHai for about a week; then Tokoyo for two...Hopefully I'll be able to bring home the goodies :D