justin․searls․co

Apple's LiveText is incredible

I mean, just look at this screenshot. I can confidently take a photo of a friend's hand-written note, search for one Japanese word that I knew was written on it to find it, then select the text and paste it into a translation app, maps, etc.

Coin lockers

In Japan, it's customary to use a coin locker at a train station to store your bags, so that you can spend time visiting a place without lugging all your stuff everywhere.

Unfortunately, this coin locker only takes five ¥100 coins (I've been spoiled by newer ones in Tokyo and Osaka that take IC cards like Suica) and I only had a single ¥100 coin on me.

So I went to a 7-Eleven to change a ¥1000 bill to coins and the attendant told me that they can no longer break change. So then I bought a bottle of tea in cash, but because these days you pay with cash using an automatic machine mounted in front of the register, it gave me back one ¥500 coin and three ¥100 coins. So I still only had four ¥100 coins when I needed five to use the locker.

So then I turned around and bought a donut with the ¥500 coin in order to break change again and this time I received three more ¥100 coins.

All so that I could pay ¥500 to use a coin locker… always an adventure!

Tabelogged: 草庵・中町井ｓay
See with all my spots…

I visited this restaurant on May 13, 2023, and gave it a 3.5 on Tabelog.

Name: 草庵・中町井ｓay
Description: 松本、西松本、北松本/そば、郷土料理、居酒屋

Which Google translates into English as:

Name: Soan/nakamachii Say
Description: Matsumoto, Nishimatsumoto, Kitamatsumoto/Soba, local cuisine, izakaya

A convenient truth

Lots of good convenience store discoveries this week!

  • A pizza sandwich filled with wieners and taco meat.
  • Bread-flavored gummies.
  • Fried and seasoned chicken skin, closely resembling the bottom of a KFC bucket
  • A canned whiskey that comes pre-mixed with water.
  • Individually-packaged cups of orange jelly housed in a larger cup
  • Sparkling water that's been fortified with… a lot of fiber?
  • Tangerine-flavored gummies designed to look like little popsicles
  • Frozen chocolate banana chunks made with otherwise-wasted bananas

So much innovation!

Kanazawa's all right

Had a great half day in Kanazawa, even though it wound up being a bit of a speed run. Omicho fish market and Kenrokuen garden are both popular tourist spots, but I found the local restaurants and bars to be really exceptional, both in service and food quality. If you like fresh fish, you really must visit someday!

Tabelogged: 源左ェ門
See with all my spots…

I visited this restaurant on May 9, 2023, and gave it a 4.0 on Tabelog.

Name: 源左ェ門
Description: 野町、北鉄金沢、金沢/居酒屋、郷土料理、海鮮

Which Google translates into English as:

Name: Genzaemon
Description: Nomachi, Hokutetsu Kanazawa, Kanazawa/Izakaya, local cuisine, seafood

Golden Week Rush

I'll never understand cultures that synchronize everyone's vacation time. Similar to August throughout Europe, most Japanese folks get Golden Week off in May. The upshot is that everywhere is crowded, hotels are expensive, and there's nothing to do because everything's closed.

The first 5 restaurants I'd picked out in Shinbashi were all closed. Presumably, because their Tabelog rankings were high enough to justify the lost revenue. Alas.

I'm staying at a hotel with an (onsen-style) public bath and so I wore the provided yukata and slippers to the bath. But when I got out, someone had taken my slippers.

So then I had to decide if I was going to be the gaijin that steals some other person's slippers or the gaijin that walks through the hotel lobby barefoot like some kind of animal.

No good option.

1.8k likes · May 6, 2023 at 1:51 PM UTC

Tabelogged: らぁ麺 くろ渦
See with all my spots…

I visited this restaurant on May 6, 2023, and gave it a 3.0 on Tabelog.

Name: らぁ麺 くろ渦
Description: 新宿三丁目、新宿御苑前、新宿/ラーメン、つけ麺

Which Google translates into English as:

Name: Ramen Kurozu
Description: Shinjuku 3-chome, Shinjuku Gyoenmae, Shinjuku/Ramen, Tsukemen

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