Okinawa Restaurants.

Japan freaking loves to eat.  Why?  I have no idea, but you'll see, especially city side, around 300 restaurants in any given direction.  I'm still trying to figure out how any of these places make money with such a saturated market and food so reasonable priced (~500 yen for a decent lunch).  Well, more than one person has said Okinawa has more restaurants per capita than any other place in Japan, which explains why I'm drowning in food here.

Which would also help explain why I see the Japanese people are a little on the heavier side. Like, 105lbs instead of 95.  Not a huge difference, but definitely a deal breaker.

Fattys aside, the food is pretty good here in Oki.  The yushidofu was pretty tasty the other day.

Its a warm and gooey tofu, and yes I know that doesn't sound all that great but its as smooth as butter (without the guilt of eating, you know, butter).  The big bowl above is the yushidofu in a miso base and the stuff to the left tastes just like thanksgiving stuffing despite being a byproduct of the tofu making process.

The biggest deal in the picture above is the 'to-go' bag.  Getting a doggy bag on the main islands is unheard of, for some unknown reason, but its fair game in Okinawa.  Maybe the island is small enough and everyone drives here so it's easier to take food home...?  Or they don't realize that to-go sushi is not a good idea..?  Whatever the reason, it is awesome to not have to eat everything on my plate.  Now I have room for more important things, like beer and awamori.

Hooray Beer

I found another 'beer like beverage' worth drinking the other day - Sapporo's Mugi to hoppu.  Kudos Sapporo. I've always been happy with everything you do despite your complete disregard for my liver's well being.

It's happoshu but has a good, lager taste.  Made with Mugi (wheat) and hops.  Not just 'flavored' with hops like those other guys.  

Thus far I've been disappointed with Orion's fake beers.  Perhaps I just need to go straight to the source at The Orion Beer Factory in Nago.  Its about a 1.5 hour drive from where I'm at, 2 hours north of the Capital, Naha.  Who puts a beer factory that far and not along any public transportation?  And I heard drivers don't get the two free beers at the end...stay tuned while I try to find someone to drive me up to Nago...

Yoshinoya!

If I could only have one word to describe Yoshinoya it would be 'dudethisplaceissomoney!".  

I really hated typical fast food in America because it was such an unpleasant experience.  There was no denying it was bad for you, the staff were never paid enough to give a crap, and no matter how good it tasted during it just tasted like regret afterwards.

Yoshinoya is the epitome of what fast food should be.  First and foremost because of speed.  You can order and start eating within 90 seconds - not a joke, I timed it. What makes it more amazing is there are never more than 3 people working, and that is for lunch rush.

There are all the free amenities you'd expect from a Japanese restaurant.  Free tea, shichimi, and ginger and the ones in Okinawa have drive-thru!  You eat out of real bowls, drink from real cups and can you say open 24 hours? 
The only thing that would make them better is if they served beer....oh, they totally serve beer! Yoshinoya can be both the cause of and solution to your hangover! (much like alcohol is the cause of and solution to all of life's problems).

Jeez Jon Evans, what would one have to pay for such an awesome experience?  I'm glad you asked. 

390 yen mofos!  

The metal dealie is for straining your egg in case you only wanted to add the white or yolk to your food.  Pretty thoughful.  Don't forget your free tsuyudaku (more secret sauce).

New Stuff

Wow the past 2 weeks have flown by in Okinawa.  Now that I'm somewhat settled in I can really start trying new things.  This place is surprisingly different from mainland Japan, in both good and bad ways, so it should be pretty easy to find new places to go and things to do and eat.  Mostly eat I guess. It's not really a rule, more of a guidline, but I'd like to try something new every day and see how long I can keep at it...

Day 1:  Today is a twofer. First up, ニンニクの茎 - garlic branches.  As in the stems that garlic grows on. You get used to eating a lot of garbage parts of food in Japan. I spent less than 400 yen on the meal below and I'm pretty sure I got my money's worth. The garlic stems are those green little stalks mixed in with the other vegetables and they kind of tasted like bamboo shoots. Not too bad I guess.

Normally food isn't THAT cheap in Japan, but grocery stores start discounting the "old" lunch Bento around 3ish so I got it for half price.  

The Orion Southern Star on the other hand was a little disappointing. The can says it's a "liqueur" and it was very affordable (~148yen), so I don't think it's real beer. At least, I hope it isn't real beer because it had the bite of happoshu. Not awful, just not as good as all the dancing in the commercials would have me believe. Better stick with REAL Orion.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff

Okinawan Food

Everything Japan does is usually full throttle, so I guess I should have expected Okinawan food to be as prevalent as it is.  Okinawa has a lot of claims to fame and they can all be found within arms reach. I've only had a handful thus far, but I've been pretty happy with the selection.  Like the mainland, every different prefecture has something they do different but okinawa does many things, way different.

Goya chanpuru is pretty well known and is in the top middle of the picture above.  The goya is the green bitter melon and it is mixed in stir fry.  I can't really compare it to anything because it doesn't taste like any food I've ever had.  Really bitter is all I can say, but it works really well mixed together with all the other ingredients.

I'm putting Koregusu on everything here!  It is hot peppers mixed with awamori (okinawan alcohol with an acquired taste). You then pour the spicy alcohol on your okinawan soba and taste the magic. I'm not sure how much alcohol is actually in the mixture, but it has quite a spicy kick so have a beer ready. It tastes WAY better than the awamori with the pit viper in it, Habushu. Habushu may be a story for another time but lets just say some places give free samples, it tastes like bitter whiskey, it is supposed to be good for your health (yeah right) and its pretty disturbing how they make it.

The good stuff, Koregusu ( コーレーグース) 

Stay tuned.

Japanese TV

Well, it already happened.  I have been in Okinawa for only a week and already want to throw myself off a building when I catch a glimpse of a television, and Buddha help me if a variety show is on.  I honestly can't believe Japanese television is not considered torture by the UN.  I truly believe that Japan's television programs (and lack of any real swear words) are causing the large suicide rate in this country.  It is, dare I say it, almost as bad as Fox News.

I could rant for days but this guy did it for me, and with much more linguistic color.  It's poetic how well this man can describe our shared distaste for this crude excuse for entertainment.  

There is the distinct possibility that there is a language/cultural barrier and that one day I'll just 'get it', but until then I will be confounded by why every punchline to a half joke is written in bold letters across the screen; why all variety shows hire the sound guy from Nickelodeon; why anyone cares about the so called celebrities on these shows; and what in the eff is up with all the effing food!  It's JUST food!

Just 2 days ago I saw Japanese "celebrities" sing all the "greatest" "hits" from the past decades (did you see how many quote marks I used?).  Yesterday was the usual walking aimlessly down streets and trying mildly interesting food and wait for it.....OISHII!  The 'best' thing on so far was watching 2 teams play a Japanese form of Lingo.

At least the commercials are unintentionally hilarious.  

I need to stop eating with the TV on...

Convenience-Mendokusai Duality

Japan, in it's infinitely confounding nature, is always trying to screw with me.  Once I think I have a handle on Japan it throws me a knuckle-ball and puts me in my place.

Take, for instance, the utterly insane convenience of this place.  Want a beer?  Just swing by a vending machine, or conbini, or pretty much anywhere and buy one.  Want to drink said beer and not have to worry about driving?  Take one of the thousand trains or buses that run on time, taxis that automatically open and close doors for you, rickshaws and bicycles waiting at your disposal (Jon Evans does not condone riding a bicycle while intoxicated).  Need to sober up and wash out your mouth after puking on that train?  Grab some food from a conbini, bento or ramen truck, izakaya, or yatai that is within stumbling distance.

250 Yen Bento/Soba.  Way to be awesome Japan.

Just woke up in a haze and you realized your rent is due? Too freaking bad.  Put yourself together because apartments and banks have never heard of the internet.  You gotta do this crap in person. Paying rent typically requires you to withdraw money, like cash money, and bring it to the bank to deposit into the owners account.  What a waste of time.  I would rather be homeless.  It is hard enough to do any online apartment research yourself because the housing websites are SOOO bad.

How about getting a job to pay for that apartment?  Well just submit a resume and see what happens. Oh, and that resume needs to be hand written.  Seriously Japan, you make the best electronics on the planet yet you can't seem to figure out that people like using computers.  I'm using one now and it's awesome.  WEEEEEEEEEE!  Now please just take my money straight from my bank account so I can sleep this hangover off.