2015-04-03: Fear Of Foreigners

That's just showing off

Ewa's has improved so much it is time for some rehabilitation type exercise. Obviously after the last issue where Tattoos were a deal breaker for membership we are trying to find places which do single visit payments as this means no paper work and if there is an issue we can go elsewhere without losing a 3 month pre paid membership.

I should buy them some of this moisturiser as a gift. Subtle way of saying "I Think You're an Arse"

Activity Review: Gym Time

We chose a reasonably western looking gym on the main street as that seemed a decent bet for being more tolerant of foreigners. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case. My language skills are pretty awful so I can't guarantee that when she said "Japanese only" she meant people. She could have meant the trainers speak Japanese only. I did try to say it is no problem we don't need to talk to anyone, just workout and then when that wasn't super clear I also typed it up on my phone in google translate. So I'm not saying they are Racist Bastards, just that they are Potential Racist Bastards.

I can sort of understand them being worried about their clients feeling inadequate compared to the Princess but I am a fat bastard so it should have balanced out

They could be just too intimidated by our awesome physiques and not want to have their existing members quit in shame and humiliation of course.

He even dug out the electric horse riding machine

Instead we went to my boxing gym. Those guys aren't intimidated by us at all and the head guy spent quite a bit of time helping Ewa around and getting set up. At ¥1080 ($10) it is even cheaper than the fancy PRB place as well I think.

Girls doing Squats are approved of here. Because, Warrior!

Rating:

0/10 for the PRB

9/10 for the boxers (Fighters are usually the nicest people in my experience)

Teeny Tiny Kegs of beer at the supermarket... I have ideas all of sudden.

On our way to dinner we stopped at the Sushi place which I had considered to be PRB to try again. Once again we got Dame and arms crossed at the forearm (which means Nopes Not Here Buddy). I intend to keep trying just because I am a small minded petty bastard at times and I think it annoys him back.

Cultural Observation: Omakase (I'll trust you)

Apparently lots of places do Omakase. It is slightly different to "What do you recommend" which is a favourite phrase of mine at new places in the past.

It is better. You don't even have to try and understand the reply. You ask Omakase? (you can use a sentence but I feel that is showing off). If the chef says "Hai" you go back to your table and food starts arriving and you eat it.

Salad to start (this might be my first of the week, he cares about my health)

After learning about this magical word we tried it at the Izakaya we have been trying to figure out how to get a Sushi lesson from (they are definitely not racist bastards). Even though they are a chain he was happy to get the game going.

Sashimi (he knows we need protein)

Unfortunately as they are a chain we are unable to get time behind his counter. The Sushi plan will have to be shelved for the time being until we make friends with another chef somewhere.

Tebasaki (Because, Nagoya)

And lest you think I am an Oblivious (and Petty) Man for not knowing it was a chain and guessing this plan would never fly I will point out that the chains here are often identical looking to almost every other place in the street and unless you can read Japanese you aren't going to notice. Some have distinct logos but many do not. I think a hint is expensively printed and laminated menus.

Fish grilled with lemon

The Omakase was great, we got a few things I think he knew we would love based on things we have ordered before and a few new items which were also great.

Sushi

I am lead to believe that one of the advantages of Omakase is that by giving the chef a free hand he feels obligated to give you a decent price. Partly because the bill won't be itemised and therefore can't be used for tax purposes here. This dinner with maybe 6 beers on top was about $35 (except I can't remember if that was each or total, it seems way too cheap for both of us but might have been, either way, good deal and fun.

Rating: 9/10 (There is scope for this strategy failing but I think I have a new favourite word)

Ewa has commenced work on The Half Arsed Tourist Flash Cards (Japanese Pack). We are aiming for phrases and words which are easy to pronounce and short. Omakase is definitely going in there. We may also include Nomi Houdai which is an all you can drink price, usually for an hour or two. We haven't tried it yet but I think it looks like it would work out slightly cheaper for us and make the receipts shorter. We are environmentally conscious!

Food & Beverage Review: Yamazaki

Japan has a few odd little fetishes. Hmmmm let's rephrase that. There are some culinary aspects of Japanese society which are a bit odd and I would like to know more about. One of them is French food. They take it way the hell serious here in general.

If it was French then it would be cultural, not porn.

Sure French restaurants worldwide are often relatively high end but French Bistros are not. Steak Frites is just not Haute Cuisine. Another thing they take more seriously than most is Scotch. Given their reticence towards most strongly smelling / flavoured western items this seems odd. However I have seen Lagavulin and Laphroiag on menus of other normal looking places. Those two knock the heads of most scotch drinkers let alone novices to the beverage. Obviously they are two of my favourites.

Hey that's my name right there. I got bored of the yellow of tables in every photo

I rarely drink any Scotch not from the islands as I find it mostly a bit same same. There are some nice Highlands ones and I do like some of the Macallan expressions but they are not a Manly Brow Soothing Beverage. Yamazaki sits in the "yeah okay" range. It does assuage anger at PRB though so that is a bonus. Plus it is astoundingly cheap here, from memory about $20.

Rating 7/10 (8 if feeling a little "kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out")