Kyushu Kurobuta Tonkatsu Tour

[JC w KC redux]

This is probably a stupid question but do you have to lock your bike when you are visiting one of these places?

I am always amazed at how close some cities are to active volcanoes. If that one decides to really blow it is not going to erupt like one in Hawaii either. 



I was going to comment on clink's post but it looks like that ship has sailed. Guess I'm off the hook.

[NOAL]

Posts: 6620
my density has brought me to you...
 

Re: Kyushu Kurobuta Tonkatsu Tour
« Reply #40 on: Today at 04:13:00 PM »
Quote
This is probably a stupid question but do you have to lock your bike when you are visiting one of these places?

Not a stupid question at all. In the next city I visit Kumamoto there's a related topic. 

People for the most part don't steal things in Japan.  It's totally fine to not lock up your bike.  The majority of bikes you see people riding are commuter style bikes nicknamed "mom" bikes
These bikes have a built in wheel lock. Many people.will lock the wheel in larger cities.  I have heard that people get their bike stolen sometimes and I think the likely scenario is someone.mistaking your bike for theirs or "borrowing" it. I dont think it's like the U.S. where some body steals.it to resale or part out.

No stealing is one of the reasons I like to visit.  It takes a little.getting used to.  It's especially nice if you are cycling solo. 

[NOAL]

KAGOSHIMA to KUMAMOTO  via SHINKANSEN

    Kagoshima is pretty much the bottom of the island of Kyushu.  My options were to ride the ferry to Sakurajima and then head to Miyazaki prefecture or go north towards Kumamoto.  I only had about five days left on the trip and I was planning on spending 2 of those in Fukuoka. The riding on the coast north did not look particularly interesting. From Kagoshima I could take an hour and forty five minute ride on the Shinkasen and spend a whole day visiting Kumamoto.  Hmmm air conditioned ride on the fastest train on the world?  Yes!

  I had the free breakfast and then walked a couple of blocks to the train station.  When I buy train tickets in Japan I like to buy them in the ticket office. When you have large baggage such as the bicycle you need to purchase a reserved seat.  I could buy the ticket at the machine but having the agent at the counter is a good way to practice my Japanese and to make sure I don't screw up and buy the wrong ticket. One of the cool things about the Shinkasen is that there are trains every hour.  Pretty amazing because I believe the train goes all the way to Osaka and then you can transfer to say Tokyo or elsewhere.  With the Shinkansen everywhere in Japan becomes a day trip.   



And like magic I am in Kumamoto!  It was around 11 which means I had 6 hrs to explore the city.  The big attraction is Kumamoto castle which is located pretty much in the center of the city.  It took me about 20 minutes to get the bike assembled and then I was off.  The castle was about 10 minutes from the train station.  Right across the street I found a bicycle parking lot.  This was the first time I encountered such a thing on my trip and it seemed like a great place to put the bike.  The concept is just like a parking deck here in the U.S.  Take a ticket, come back later insert ticket in the machine pay and use ticket to exit. Cool.



lots of mamachari or mom bikes!



with the bike parked I headed over to the castle.  The castle was severely damaged in the 2016 earthquake.  Many building and the walls fell down.  This made it kind of tricky to find the entrance. Of course I took the long way and ended up having to navigate through a bunch of sections that were closed for construction before I coud find the main entrance.  This was actually a cool accident becasue it allowed me to see the process of putting the castle back together which is amazing. 

Here's a section of wall that they have not gotten to yet that looks like it is in the exact state of after the earthquake. 



Stones sorted and laid out in preparation for reassembly.



The process for reassembling is pretty bananas.  Every stone has a number painted on it that lets the construction workers know it location and orientation.  That's right every stone is being put back in it's exact original location.  Think about that for a minute cause it's pretty mind blowing.

Putting a wall back together


They were out there in 98 degree heat toiling away.

I was glad I took the long way to the entrance but it sure was hot. 

Check out the corners of the walls and think about putting something like that back together.  sheesh.


The castle has 6 floors and it would take few hours if you read all of the exhibits.  They were all in Japanese so not possible for me to read.  They did have an app to download for other languages but seemed like something that would kill my phone battery.  There was plenty to look at.  Each floor showcases a different century or era and the top floor is a 360 observation room of the city. 

model of castle in the castle



View of the city. 


Kumamoto is the 3rd largest city in Kyushu.  The population is about the same as San Francisco

[JC w KC redux]

Excellent installment - thanks!
That is a shit ton of big stones (they look heavy too).
How the hell they figure out what numbers to assign is beyond me (after seeing that giant unsorted mess).
 

[NOAL]

i=WwfwPuuNKbVKiXpw

[JC w KC redux]

That is some amazing craftsmanship.
I was chuckling when they said the support frame was 420 tons...dude.
The snippets of the woodworkers and the wall stones were great.

[NOAL]

Last I heard they plan to be done in 2052.  No joke.

[NOAL]

    After I left the castle I walked around the surrounding neighborhood which has a lot of shopping, restaurants and museums.  Went back to get the bike out of the parking garage.  Parking for 4 hrs came out to 200 yen or $1.50.  Not bad.  I still had some time before I could check into the hotel so I decided to cruise around some more neighborhoods.  I saw that a shopping mall had one of my former employers stores so I decided to pop in quickly just to look.  Always wondered what the Japanese version looks like.  Just as I was leaning my bike up against a railing I was approached by a police man.  No parking bicycles on the street.  He pointed me in the direction of another garage about a block away.  Things were starting to make sense. 

Entrance to underground bike parking garage


Inside garage


Turns out parking in the bicycle garage is not optional it is mandatory.  You are not allowed to park your bike anywhere on the street for the majority of the city.  There is also no on street parking for cars in congested areas.  They also have to park in a garage.


parking for cars is pretty inexpensive too.  100 yen parking hero



In the Bay Area we tend to have a bicycle vs. cars mentality so my initial reaction was the city of Kumamoto must not like bikes.  Then I realized that cars can't park on the street.  It just solves a lot of problems if everybody parks in a garage.  I came back to get my bike in less than an hour and it turns out that the first hour is free.  So if someone is running errands or just popping in somewhere you don't get penalized for that.

      The other cool thing about Kumamoto and Fukuoka is that bicycles are allowed to ride on the sidewalk if you ride slow.  If you want to ride fast there are bicycle lanes on the street.  The sidewalks are wider so that helps some.  Many people use bicycles especially the mom bikes as their primary form of transportation.  Also, pedestrians and bicycles both stop at crosswalks when there is a don't walk.  The majority of people obey this rule even when there is no traffic in sight.

    After I left the garage I found a cool shop that sold Zori or traditional Japanese sandals made from rush/grass.  Sometimes it's hard to tell what a business sells so you have to peek through the window.



Here's the owner.  He sits behind the counter making sandals all day.  I bought a pair from him.  They are 3,000 yen or $20 a pair.  A real deal for something handmade.



   It was time to check into the business hotel by the train station.  This was a pretty big one. 24 stories.  I had a room on the 18th floor.  All they had left when I booked it was smoking room.  That's still a thing there.  It turned out not to be stinky. 


Late night existential anxiety? Don't worry we got you covered.



   It was Friday night so after the check in routine headed down to the train station plaza to check out the sake festival.


   For 1400 yen or $11 you get three tickets to use at any of the vendors.  The vendors were all local to Kumamoto serving cold sake.  I am not too knowledgeable about sake but from what I could gather the two major choices are dry or sweet.  I prefer dry.  There were also food vendors selling meat and seafood on skewers.


   Fun event.  There were many people there having a good start to their weekend.

[JC w KC redux]

Maybe they sprayed your room with pooph.

That snack jar looks yummy!

I'm bet the cold sake wasn't too cold. Although you did not mention the temp in this post - I'm guessing it was still toasty and you're just kind of over continuing to remind us at this point.

Those sandals look cool.

[NOAL]

Poop?!

The snack jar came from the vending machine in the lobby that has beer and mixed drinks in cans. The machine will only dispense cans so they made the package the same shape.  In Hokkaido vending machines with alcohol were in every hotel and onsen.  Sometimes even on the street.  Most of the hotels in Kyushu did not have them.  This chain called Tokoyo did.  When I was buying these snacks I bought a tall can of Asahi.  When I made the selection the machine malfunctioned and spit out about 8 tall boys all at the same time.  it was like winning the jackpot at a casino and the sound got the attention of everyone in the lobby.  The lady at the reception desk ran over and immediately took away the extra 7 beers.  It was for the best.

The sake was cold.  They keep it in fridges or on ice.  it was still in the upper 90's.  It was that way for the whole trip until my last 2 days in Fukuoka when it dropped down into the upper 80's which was a huge difference.

If that snack mix with the little dried fish looks good you can usually find it here in the states at Asian markets.  Never seen it in a vending machine in such clever packaging.

[JC w KC redux]

It's actually spelled pooph but pronounced poof. It is a product advertised on TV. It is billed as a pet odor product but scroll down and there is a dancing turd. We need that icon added to the forum.

https://www.pooph.com/?mid=12017247&dttrpx=1&vendor=bing&campaignid=382867585&adgroupid=1222657417265550&targetid=kwd-76416445328774:loc-190&mt=e&network=o&device=c&adid=&keyword=Pooph&querystring=pooph&productgroup=&productchannel=&productid=&msclkid=14cdfe08817c1969b296992900821d1b&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Pooph%20TM&utm_term=Pooph&utm_content=Pooph%20TM-01


That jackpot turned denied made me chuckle.

[clink]

 Sushi and Sapporo.

 I was going to inject this in the route words, but really it belongs here.
Since you posted these trip reports I’ve quadrupled my visits to Japanese restaurants. I’ve gone from gingerly sampling to full on addiction.

[NOAL]

Good to see you have been inspired by my TR.  Add riding a bike into the equation and you can eat even more!

Do you have a favorite when you go out to eat Japanese food?

I rarely go out to eat unless I am on vacation.  Maybe once a month on the average.

[clink]

 Sushi Garden Aptos is next to my bank. Akira is in the Trout Gulch area where my bank office used to be located. Both are good quality in my opinion and I’ve probably been spoiled.
 My favorites have been a variety of the different mixed rolls.
We were traveling last week from Denver to Utah, to Reno, but I refrained from trying any sushi that far from the coast.

 Claire had an excellent trout dinner in Reno, which was area appropriate.

 What is your restaurant recommendation for the Bay Area?

[Brad Young]

I'd eat Japanese food for 8 out of 10 meals if I could. That's not a common type of restaurant up here though (there are a few in Sonora).

[NOAL]

We were traveling last week from Denver to Utah, to Reno, but I refrained from trying any sushi that far from the coast.

Most of the fish used for sushi is flash frozen or is flown in from somewhere else so it could be just fine. We used to go to dinner in Half Moon Bay quite a bit. Most everything on the menu at seafood restaurants is not from California.  It is flown in from Hawaii or frozen.  For instance, Sam's Chowder House is packed but commercial clams come from the East Coast or Washington State. Go figure.  The best restaurant in Half Moon Bay IMO is not seafood it's Nepalese!

I really like the fish market at the harbor in Santa Cruz (the cat is out of the bag. I actually like something in Santa Cruz!)  Their selection is pretty much all caught local.  Notice the tuna on their website it says flown in from Hawaii.  https://www.hhfreshfish.com/current-selection  Another good one is Sea Forager in SF all local seafood subscription https://www.seaforager.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA3Na5BhAZEiwAzrfagGYxXsE79EVq6jmx1E_SbJNqSCJK7Uks7Ywf2UBdSlCssUoNE28MUBoC_1gQAvD_BwE  The owner Kirk Lombard also wrote an excellent book about Sea Foraging in Northern California.   Great read if you want to poke pole, dig for clams, catch sardines, harvest seaweed etc.  https://www.seaforager.com/book?gclid=CjwKCAiA3Na5BhAZEiwAzrfagGYxXsE79EVq6jmx1E_SbJNqSCJK7Uks7Ywf2UBdSlCssUoNE28MUBoC_1gQAvD_BwE

I don't really have a suggestion for Bay Area Sushi restaurants. I like Sushi but it is kind of a special occasion thing for me.  For SF  I like Sobakatsu  a Soba noodle shop https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/sobakatsu-sf-soba-noodles-19596459.php  Two old guys who make their own noodles.  Shop only seats about 10.  It is open until 7 but many times they run out of noodles around 4:30. 

Also like Bon Nene 
https://www.bonnene.com/dinner 



For Curry https://curryhyuga.com/

All three of these restaurants are I believe Japanese owned. 

I suppose I cook a fair amount of "Japanese" food at home.  I also cook Chinese, Vietnamese,Thai, French,Korean, Cuban, Turkish, Italian ,El Salvadorean, Indian etc.  Having really diverse options for shopping in the Bay Area make cooking cuisine from all over the world very accessible.  A mish mash of all of the above cuisines have become a regular part of my diet.   I do try to buy most of my food from  Korean, Chinese  or sometimes Japanese markets.  Japanese markets are the most expensive of the three so just go there when I need something I cannot get anywhere else.  Latin markets, Indian, and Middle Eastern markets are interesting too.   I enjoy eating at home way more than eating out.

[clink]

I suppose I cook a fair amount of "Japanese" food at home.  I also cook Chinese, Vietnamese,Thai, French,Korean, Cuban, Turkish, Italian ,El Salvadorean, Indian etc.  Having really diverse options for shopping in the Bay Area make cooking cuisine from all over the world very accessible.  A mish mash of all of the above cuisines have become a regular part of my diet.   I do try to buy most of my food from  Korean, Chinese  or sometimes Japanese markets.  Japanese markets are the most expensive of the three so just go there when I need something I cannot get anywhere else.  Latin markets, Indian, and Middle Eastern markets are interesting too.   I enjoy eating at home way more than eating out.

 You do realize that if you posted this on your profile on a dating site, that the all gender line to meet you would form from Treasure Island to around McPhee's Grill in Templeton.

 Noal, you are truly the Sexiest Man Alive!

 Sorry JK, People got it wrong.

[NOAL]

The line disappears when they find out they have to do the dishes.

That list might sound impressive or maybe a bit (or a lot) pretentious but its not really that. 

I had a job for a couple of years working in a fish market. I learned how to cut fish and also used to go to fisherman's wharf super early to help with the buying.  We also made prepared foods at the market.  Most of the prepared stuff was made from the odd pieces of fish that did not look good on a tray in the display case.  Not much was thrown away.  Even things like lobster shells and shrimp shells were put in the freezer to make lobster bisque for the holidays or shrimp stock for soups.  Since it's a business the bottom line is priority and yielding the most from the fish was the goal.  One of the owners who had been a chef at Aliotto's in Fisherman's Wharf once told me he never ate seafood at a restaurant because nothing gets thrown away even if it is old.

My ex girlfriend and I when we first met would eat out on the average about three times a week.  I found that in that period I was feeling shitty often.  I was at a used book store one day and found this book for $1  https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/frank-stitts-southern-table-recipes-and-gracious-traditions-from-highlands-bar-and-grill_pat-conroy_frank-stitt/311420/item/7163050/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=high_vol_midlist_standard_shopping_retention&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=666159745081&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_9u5BhCUARIsABbMSPvQZQy77SBcasGhThA4KAt-YbIZzXnU7B4Hw3HRwmGZ8Iiz_Yx-0XAaAhzVEALw_wcB#idiq=7163050&edition=4602568

The author of the book Frank Stitt is the owner of Highland Bar and Grill in my hometown Birmingham Alabama.  He has been awarded the James Beard award and studied cooking with Alice Waters at Chez Panise in Berkeley.   Like Waters much of his menu is based on seasonal ingredients local to Alabama. This is pretty common now but when he opened in the 1980's not many people and definitely no one in Alabama was doing this. Most of the dishes in the book are a mixture of French and Southern cooking.  I pretty much cooked every single thing in the book and they are all bangers.  After that I bought his second book for his other restaurant Bottega which is Italian food.  I also made every recipe in that book.

It took a couple for years to work through both of those books and by doing so I inadvertently cut out eating in restaurants.  What I discovered was that I no longer felt like shit a few times a week. It took awhile for me to make the connection but when I did I asked my girlfriend if she noticed any changes and she said she experienced the same thing.

The restaurant business is about the bottom line.  While there are passionate restaurant owners out there who care about quality believe me they are still concerned about their bottom line.  That applies to upscale restaurants all the way down to Super Tacqueria.  The main goal is to make money.  Many use old or low quality ingredients and cut corners on things like changing out old oil in fryers. 

Long story short for all the countries listed in my previous post I learned how to cook that kind of food at home so I would not have to get sick from eating in a restaurant.  Most basic dishes are not that hard or too expensive to make at home.  For instance,  I like papusas so I learned how to make them and turns out it's not that hard.  Same goes for pad thai, Mapo tofu, twice cooked pork, Oyako don, making wontons/dumplings etc etc.  After awhile I kind of stopped thinking of cooking these basic dishes as something different it's just making food and the more you do it the easier it gets and it's not a big deal. 

I suggest to everyone try not eating out for a month, eat more vegetables and fruits, cut out as much processed food as you can, and see how you feel. 

Also I am not a foodie type person.  I don't eat in restaurants and at home I don't have a bunch of fancy cooking equipment.  For instance, my favorite knife is made by Kitchen Aid and I bought it at TJmaxx.  I just like basic everyday food from all over the world.  Not too interested in fancy fusion cuisine or hipster fine dining.

[JC w KC redux]

Noal, you are truly the Sexiest Man Alive!

Sorry JK, People got it wrong.

Today's clues brought to you by clink the clever.

[clink]

Today's clues brought to you by clink the clever.

 Yes, the anger management classes have helped me immensely, I have been able to permanently dropped the 'a' from Clink The Cleaver.

 Last of the Summarily.