Over a week of calm days with temperature inversion has made Salt Lake City a soup of smog to rival anything I’ve seen elsewhere. At least going up the mountain gets out of the murk. But also means clear warm weather up top. Considering it hasn’t snowed for over a week, the riding was not bad, we’ve been in much worse. We’ve only gone riding every other day though.
Archive for the 'Travel' Category
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We had rumors of Salt Lake City, UT having good sushi. So far in the years we’ve been visiting, it has not been so. Today we found some, you have to go downtown. Takashi I can report was excellent. Yes there was a fairly long wait, but this was a good sign. Our waiter was good, friendly, knowledgable in the menu and specials. The sushi and nigiri was excellent, included a number of selections ive not usually seen. Honestly it rivaled some of the best I’ve had. Only criticism I’d have was the rice was a little too mushy. Not the perfect balance where the grains were individual yet sticked together.
Aside from that I’d say it was worth the $60 per head bill we racked up.
4 out 4 finally sushi satisfied monkeys.
We’ve arrived uneventfully. Security at hnl was fast, everything on time. Hispanic IHOP breakfast. Checked out a few shopping targets. Lunch at In N Out. Checked into hotel which looks pretty decent, although its right next to the train tracks.
Pound beer, dang it notice too late they get Hoegarten, go to gate, no need wait, timed just right as end of line going in. See u at hnl.
This thing looks like an oversized prop to make normally sized people look like Hobbits or children. Of course when you see something like this in the convenience store, you have to try it! According to the manufacturer’s website, the 568 calorie “King” versions are almost double the 328 calorie regular version. With the increase in size comes an increase in water to be added, up to half a liter versus the 300 or so needed for the standard. The wait time remains the same. Taste-wise, it’s as good (or as bad, if you will) as the regular version. According to the website, the toppings were supposed to be kanikama (artificial crab) and other fish paste products, squid, cabbage, green onion, and egg. There was flat, white stuff that looked like squid, but I think it was the inner leaves of the kanikama. The only chewy squid-like substance had the purple outer skin of octopus, and I had a piece that I swear had a tentacle sucker. Maybe squid and octopus are lumped together for allergy labeling purposes. The nostalgic thing for me was the foamy dehydrated dried egg that disappeared from the USDM versions of cup noodle to be replaced with corn of the same color in the late 1980’s. The website further states that the soup base is pork, asari, and oyster based. I guess I’m a fan of all ramen, including cup-instant and semi-instant. Of course these aren’t as good as something from a good shop, but they all have their place. Even the nastiest instant ramen will bring back some dirtbag college memory. Nasty this one isn’t. It is one of the better cup ramen that I have had. There was a spicy curry one that I had once that tasted better, but had soup that was unappealingly thick. Go relive your misspent youth and get full at the same time!
Three out of four grunge-monkeys
Recommended
226-yen
More pictures after the break
Found the relocated Sapporo Mandarake. They’re in the Norbessa building with the big ferris wheel on top. The new shop space is much larger, but it didn’t seem like there was a whole lot more content. Surprisingly, I didn’t find any unusual figures or arcane DVD’s or manga to add to my collection. Figure-wise, there seemed to be a lot more of the second-tier game prize figures than before. There were a disturbing number of very graphic, uncensored dakimakura covers. …Oh, and someone bought the 1:1 scale Kokonoe Rin figure.
Darn. Looking through my pictures, I must have forgotten to take pictures of the Suntory Premium Malts Koku no Blend half-and-half I had earlier. Guess I’ll have to drink another!
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The “red can” Yebisu Kohaku is back again, and retains the same wonderfully balanced, full-bodied taste that I enjoyed before. The 100% barley malt has been roasted to a rich, caramel color, yielding a deep honey amber decoction. The hopping is distinct, with a noticeable bitter note at the end, but not as strong as the drier regular Yebisu or the latest iteration of the “blue can” Suntory Malts Premium Pilsener. There is no significant sweetness of floweriness to the hopping. The malt flavor still stands true. The carbonation is more pronounced than other Japanese production beers. It will hold a head a little longer, due to the heavier decoction. Even as the head goes thin, there are still visible bubble trails, and the carbonation blooms in your mouth. This is still one of my favorite JDM production beers.
Three-and-a-half out of four wafuu monkeys
Highly recommended
5.5% ABV
Here’s the review of the 2010 version
More pictures after the break
Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – 2013 Yebisu Kohaku Amber Lager’
Went all the way to Obama, but didn’t see the Obama castle ruins, Myoutsuu-ji, Wakasa hiko-jinja, and Wakasa kokubun-ji. Wakasa hiko-jinja was along the way to Mantoku-ji and Jinguu-ji which I did see, but time ran out.
Went all the way to Kyoto, but didn’t get to Rokudo Sannou-ji to see Yajirou’s well.
Went all the way to the Osaka Aquarium and didn’t see a giant isopod.
Autumn is rolling in a little late this year in Kyoto, and even though it has already rolled through Sapporo, the leaves are only beginning to turn in the old capital. Many of the temples popular for autumn color viewing also open at night for a whole different experience. The main building at Chion-in was closed for extensive renovation, but the grounds were open for night viewing. They even had the stairs to the interior of the main gate open so the inner chamber could be viewed.
More pictures after the break.