Shutterglut
Cruising through life with a camera, healthy appetite, and endless gadget lust.
Thursday, February 25, 2010

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
What Fresh Hell Is This?!
In my ongoing culinary tour of Japan, I frequently encounter new flavours and am usually pleasantly surprised. Not 10 minutes earlier, I was in the discount shop across the road and since I'm always on the lookout for new things, I saw a new soft drink sitting on the shelf bearing the label "Chocolate Sparkling".

Intrigued, and most likely against all better judgment, I decided to try it. I fully expected a new taste sensation and admit that I imagined it to be "interesting" at best and terrible beyond words at worst.

Unfortunately, this was one of those rare occurrences where I discover that my sense of adventure has led me astray. There is definitely a chocolate-like aroma and flavour but then you stop and wonder how they managed to get it to smell and taste like it does. There is also a very odd sensation once you drink it. You know that slightly oily, dare I say creamy, sensation in your mouth after you eat some chocolate? Why is it also in a soft drink that contains absolutely no chocolate?

No, sir. I will not be buying this bottled elixir of devil piss again. Suntory does make some most excellent beverages and their Malts beer is a personal perennial favourite but this gustatory affront deserves nothing more than a withering glance.

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Friday, February 12, 2010
Kobe Ijinkan & Nagata
Spurred on by the promise of good food, Ets and I went out to meet Patrick and Nobuko in Nagata where I am told sobameshi (fried noodles and rice) is a local specialty. Nagata is also where Tetsujin 28 resides.



Tokyo had their Gundam (which I believe is now dismantled) but Kobe and its 18-meter tall Tetsujin lives on striking an unmistakeably heroic pose.


Before that though, Ets and I went to Sannomiya to wander around Chinatown and to seek out a particular Starbucks. What made this one special is that it is housed in what used to be one of the foreign residences dating back to the late Taisho and early Meiji eras.



The whole two-storey house is one fancy Starbucks. There are even some old furniture and the rest of the interior is probably as accurate as it can be after being Bucksified.

The remaining houses in the area, which is on top of a hill, remain a tourist attraction and still retain a certain charm despite some over-ambitious claims (one cafe nearby advertised an ocean-view. Not entirely false but you had to peer over a hundred rooftops to catch the tiniest glimpse of the ocean).

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Faster than a speeding ADSL
Haven't done one of these in a while and since I've revamped the blog, thought I'd see how fast my new fiber connection is.

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