[Update: if you're reading this, then you're listening to an updated version of this episode with a more aggressive denoise filter, to try to combat the karaoke jingles playing incessantly in the background 🎤.]

Welcome to the rhetorical Bemusement Park that is the Breaking Change podcast! This episode was recorded in Japan, the recording of which was an ordeal that you will hear all about if you choose to press play and listen to this version of the podcast.

I have failed you all, however, because I had to duck out of my "recording" "booth" ahead of schedule and I didn't get to any items from the mailbag. That means now's your chance to skip the line ahead of all those other mailbaggers by rapid-firing off an e-mail to podcast@searls.co for inclusion in a theoretical, unannounced, unsure-if-it'll-even-happen version 13.

Heard people liked URLs so I hallucinated some for you:

Show those show notes…

Well, technically, just editing one. (It was actually recorded in a karaoke joint.)

I visited ル グルトン on May 28, 2024. I gave it a 3.5 on Tabelog.

I first visited this yoshoku-style steakhouse in December 2019, then again with Aaron in February 2020.

Four years later, I made a three-hour round trip out of my way to find that the master had handed the business down to his son, and (thankfully) that he was every bit as talented at preparing matsusaka-gyu as his father.

Anyway, here's what 300 grams and ¥15,000 of Japanese sirloin (ロース) steak looks like:

Same as ever. Best steak I've ever had. And compared to Orlando's prices, an absolute steal at $95.

If you like your steak prepared in an American style (that is to say, thick cut, cooked for you, and eaten with a fork and a knife), then this might be the very best way to experience what many consider to be the highest-quality beef in Japan. Super glad I made the trip to come back!

I visited 魚処やつはし on May 27, 2024. I gave it a 3.8 on Tabelog.

I visited 居酒屋 ちょん兵衛 on May 27, 2024. I gave it a 3.3 on Tabelog.

I visited いきいき亭 近江町店 on May 27, 2024. I gave it a 3.7 on Tabelog.

I first visited Kanazawa's incredible fish market last year, including this silly video about my hunt for a fresh fish bowl (kaisen-don):

Well I came back today with the intention of getting there early enough to visit the shop I'd originally intended to go to. Last year it was sold out by the time I got there (noon?) and when I told the chef the story this morning he congratulated me on coming back for a "revenge dish".

So here it is, a crab rice bowl (kani-don):

Would recommend! 🦀

I walked in to give them a piece of my mind, but the elevator button didn't do anything no matter how many times I pressed it.

I visited 寿司居酒屋 や台ずし 松阪駅前町 on May 25, 2024. I gave it a 3.2 on Tabelog.

I visited やきとり家すみれ 鳥取店 on May 24, 2024. I gave it a 3.1 on Tabelog.

I visited KAEN on May 24, 2024. I gave it a 3.3 on Tabelog.

So basically there's a large natural sand dune in the least populated prefecture of Japan, Tottori.

As someone who grew up enjoying Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes, I agreed to visit them after the lady seated next to me at the SoftBank SeaHawks baseball game suggested I go visit after Matsue.

Well, I did!

Here's to two more weeks of sand in my shoes I can never quite clean out.

Aaron insisted that while I was in Matsue, I visit its renowned sunset spot in a park along the eastern shore of Lake Shinji.

I'm not a huge sunrise/sunset person, but what else was I going to be doing at 7:12pm on a Thursday? So I walked down and checked it out:

It was very pretty. If you're a fan of the life-giving fusion power generator that is Sol, you'd probably dig this view.

I visited レストラン 西洋軒 on May 23, 2024. I gave it a 3.5 on Tabelog.

I visited 呉竹鮨 on May 23, 2024. I gave it a 3.5 on Tabelog.

The first overnight stop on my tour of the north side of Honshu was Matsue. As its castle is among a handful of original castles to survive in Japan (similar to my adopted hometown of Hikone), I felt obligated to drop in and scope out the joint.

And I'm glad I did! Seriously, this is one of the most beautiful and well-maintained castles I've visited in Japan. Really glad I came.