1. Sakurai Sho
I love that he fails so often but always wins. I love his really bad puns. He makes me think that if being a fan girl is wrong, I never want to be right.
When I'm in Japan, I can see why people become train nerds. Japanese trains are so much superior to Australian trains. For starters, they are on time. OMG yes!
Also people STFU on the trains. They don't jibber-jabber on, talking on their mobile phones about what they are going to cook for dinner and other crap that fills your ears up to bursting point. People send texts or just general be quiet. They do that so that other people can sleep.
3. Ramen
Ramen is like the greatest food known to man. If you are sad, it makes you happy. If you are tired, it comforts you. It is like a big blanket of yummy warmth to grab around yourself. I've tried to make ramen at home but never quite succeeded. I will keep on trying though.
The absolute best bit about ramen is the eggs. I don't know what they do to the eggs - I think they hard boil them then marinate them in soy and mirin - but they are super extra good.
4. Karaoke
Sure there is karaoke in Australia but it's crap karaoke. You go to a bar full of strangers and get given a ratty, dog-eared, torn list of songs to pick from. Then you have to wait around all night for your turn while you are listening to other shit singers.
In Japan, you have a private room. There's no waiting for a turn (well except if your friends hog it), there's a modernified electronic song selecting touch pad thingo and, best of all, there's an intercom where you can holler for more drinks!
5. Random Adventures
Sure you can have random adventures anywhere but I seem to have more than my fair share in Japan. Maybe because I talk to more random stangers, maybe because I go out more. Who knows?
So what is your favourite place in the world and what do you love about it?
Oh Japan *sigh*, I so want to go back! I've been thinking about my adventures over there three years ago and gazing at my Tokyo map, recalling all the things I did. I agree with you on the trains and random adventures (and hadn't seen Sakurai Sho before, phwoar!). I'd say my other favourite things about Japan are okonomiyaki, Miyajima and Tokyu Hands but there's so much more to add. Green tea flavoured custard puffs, tanuki, the crazy mama san and her izakaya in Nagoya, bewildering rules in ryokans and art galleries, getting lost in red-light districts, finding awesome bars in office blocks, my bizarre obsessions with Natural Lawson and Uniqlo ...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds AMAZING and I want to go one day!
ReplyDeleteI read this the other day and thought of you: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2010/05/japan_highlights.php
I have so many favourite places in the world. I should probably start with London! I love how good the public transport is here, even though I complain about it sometimes, everything is pretty regular and very rarely do you have to wait any longer than a few minutes for a train. Love that I can travel to Paris from London on a train too! I love the history, all the ancient buildings. I love the museums and the enormous libraries. I love the parks. I love the pretty mews and tiny little streets, the rows of townhouses and different coloured doors. I love the bridges along the Thames. I love red buses. I love the street markets and carnivals. I love the fashion and how the other half live (sigh!). I love the supermarkets. I love all the cute one of kind shops you can get over here. I love the King's Road and John Lewis and the theatres and the little Italian cafes and the french patisseries. I love how you never know who you will meet, anywhere. I love what a (relatively) safe city it is. I love the cobbled streets. I love the squirrels. I love how sometimes you'll see something so random, like people practicing their sitars in the park. I love how I am never, ever bored here.
Yet to do karaoke here though :P
I've been to karaoke places in Melbourne's Chinatown that have private karaoke rooms. They are around, honest!
ReplyDeleteLove me some Ramen too. Haven't had it in Japan, will be curious to see how the American-Japanese ramen compares, if I ever get to Japan one day.
I'm enjoying hearing about Japan through your eyes.
I loved Paris when I went there at 17. I went to the Opera House, the main one. And for a moment, had the entire place to myself. It was probably one of the most amazing single moments of my whole life.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to go to Japan - especially Kyoto!
So true Sarah. I feel like I haven't explored the potential of shopping at Tokyo Hands nearly enough... maybe next trip :D
ReplyDeletePhil, I'd love to go back to London. This sounds like the lamest whinge ever but when I went there I was staying with a friend in Knightsbridge and all we did was go shopping and out to lunch and clubs. Seriously, the whole holiday was like an episode of Absolutely Fabulous. Fun but there is so much more I want to see :)
Kada, it is so worth going to Japan just for the ramen. One of my goals is to travel Japan so I can try all the regional specialties.
I've been to the private room karaoke in Melbs. They are fun but the song selection is crap compared with Japan. I can't believe you can get so many more English songs to pick from there. I'm a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and they had so many of his songs compared with the 1-2 big hits you get here.
Wow Lucinda, that sounds amazing!
I am loving your new blog. It is so positive. And I am tooootally off to Jap this year.
ReplyDeleteI've wanted to go to japan for the longest time!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cute and funny post. I'd never heard of Sakurai Sho before...man have i been missing out! I know it sounds like a cliche, and not every japanese person is a quirky eccentric, but japan DOES seem to have a really offbeat element! And they have geisha!I have a creepy love for geisha. i so want to see a geisha girl in real life and take photos of her, and have said photos blown up and plastered all over my walls. (i said i was creepy) I love the beautiful kimono they wear, and that amazing makeup and hair.
Oh, I am so in love with Japan too. And you can probably guess that my first reason has the name Jun Matsumoto attached on it.
ReplyDeleteI am so envious of your adventures in Japan! Maybe someday, I will too experience this country.
Oh, the Karaoke pic is so hella crazy great :-)