One of the place that warrant a quick check out for any tourist and at any destination is the local McDonalds. Every country have their own variation of McDonalds and did Japan. McDonalds in Japan is not cheap at all, it is actually more expensive that the local ramen stalls around the tube stations. Nevertheless, they have a few meals that I don’t see in Malaysia. First off is the McPork. Though sounds interesting, it does not taste that well, its kinda blend, and chicken taste much better. Our favourite were the McGriddles. Its just Sausage, Egg, Cheese and top off with a nicely baked sweet bread/muffin. Just mouth watering. For non-porkes (non pork eaters), this should be a good alternative. There are the regular Cheese Burgers and Big Mac, but why have them while we can taste the local specials. While we were Tokyo, there was a Japanese Talk show that compares the McDonalds across Asia. India has the cheapest Meals, and they have a Double Chicken burger in place of Big Mac. And this is huge, so huge that the host almost puke finishing it. Thai has some spicy stuff and Malaysia was not mention at all. McDonalds pricess across the world have been used as economic comparison, its just interesting how a global company can have such an impact in so many ways. Anyway, if you are ever in Japan, checkout some of the local McDonalds pick, its just boring not to.

McPork – kinda slopy and does not look like in the pictures (common around the world)

Chicken Filet-O

McGriddles

McGriddles

The best Gyoza in the world is located at Gora, Japan. Before I discover this place, I totally hate Gyoza. In Chinese, its the sticky pot dumpling, which I have had several times and they totally sucks. I never understood why this is such a popular dish. All this hate and dislike came to an end when I visited Gora last fall. This restaurant was recommended in our guidebook. It mention that it is a must try even if we dont like Gyozas and that the restaurant is easily spotted as there are long queue of people waiting to get a bite at this delicacy. Following our philosophy on food, which is any restaurant has a queue upfront is worth the try, I plan a dinner visit in our Japan Trip itinerary.

The shop is located on the main road between Gora Station and Hakone Open Air Museum. Its just a few minutes walk down the street directly from Gora Station. The gyoza is the best in the world. I have never had such delicious Gyoza ever. The outer part was crispy, and the inner part was tasty. The restaurant boast more than 10 types of Gyozas, and we only had the chance to try a few of them. We were staying up the hill from Gora Station and there were no many restaurants around. That was the good thing, cause we were daily patrons to the Gyoza Center. The restaurant people were very friendly, knowing that we do not read or speak Japaneses, they automatically bring out an English menu. We tried the Original Gyoza, Chicken, Crabmeat, Shrimp and the chicken wing stuff Gyoza. There is even a Stamina Gyoza, and its stuff with Garlic.

Till today, months after, we are still dreaming of the Gyoza Center. We have yet to encounter any Gyozas better. Before this place, I just couldn’t dig Gyoza, and I could not understand the fuss of it. After this experience, it went from hate to love for Gyozas. If you ever come by Gora, it is a must to stop by and have a taste. If there is a long que, put your name down and the number in your party and relax at a patio at the side of the restaurant. A lady will call your name and when your turn comes.

Cozy Settings

Selections

Gyoza Set Meal

Original Gyoza

Crab Gyoza

Chicken Wing stuffed Gyoza

When I was young, all I wanted was a friend like Doraemon. With his mystery pocket that provide endless of gadgets that could make problems go away, life was just so sweet then. Well, I have grown up, and have made a life for myself. I have wondered what happen to Nobita. Imagine my surprise when I saw Nobita in the papers, he has grown up to be the prime minister of Japan. Oh, being the prime minister must have taken a toll on him as he has lost much hair. If only Cats live that long, Nobita would have achieve much more with Doraemon’s help, no doubt about that…

In my recent visit to Japan, I was especially astonished by the amount of field trips for preschoolers and the bravery of the teachers to round them up and control them in field trips to the City, and taking public transport. I certainly don’t see this much back home. We arrived at Narita Airport and took an hour long train into Tokyo. This is where we saw the kids (above), all with their standard hats, high pitch voices and only 2 teacher to hull the 30 odd kids together. I first notice the hats. All of them has the same hat, its like a school uniform, except on the head. Its purpose must be to ease the teacher to pick them up in the crowd. During our 2 weeks stay, we came across many different kind of hats. We initially though different hats for different grades, and later realize it was up to the school actually. Majority of the kids were well behave, and only one or two are a little rowdy. This explain why the teachers are at ease to bring them to the City as huge and busy as Tokyo. Another thing I notice in Japan is the design for practicality. If you look at the hats the kids are wearing, you will notice it has a locking string below it that goes around the neck. If the hat is blown off, it will still be caught by the string. Imagine, if the kids were crossing the road, and a strong gush of wind came and take the hats together with it. The child’s fist instinct would be to chase and pick up the hat, and would not regard about the cars zooming around him/her. This tiny string avoids that scenario and many others in similar nature, and thus reduces incidents regarding to hats flying off. It is interesting to see so many preschoolers crowding with commuters going into the City, I could imagine the teachers nightmare in doing this, and again, I could imagine the child’s enthusiasm and fun on such trips. Japan is truly an amazing country, you have to make a trip there this lifetime..

In the course of my trip planning, I found Answers from yahoo to be absolutely indispensable. I searched for a few days on how to get from Gora (where I was staying) to Kamakura. I could not find any bus linkage nor train linkages. Guide books and online travel guides only touches on popular routes and this is an abnormal route. As a last straw, I posted a question over at Yahoo Answers and whoala within12 hours my question was answered. It was not th exact answer i wanted, but I got an hint that lead me to what I wanted. I asked if there is a direct bus connection. A local guy ask me back, whey I want to take bus, while I can take the train, taking the Tokaido line. With this Tokaido line, i was able to search the train time and cost. Yahoo Answers are for anything, and there are many odd questions there. It is not that user friendly and fall below my expectation as a web tool. in fact, Yahoo web tool, apart from it’s mail, all fall below expectation on user friendliness. Trip Planner for instance, do not have easy sort features, and the ajax are not dynamic. Every time i change something, i have to wait for the entire page to reload. However, there are no other web applications like it, so Trip Planner is still the only one that gives a good flexible trip planning capability. Back to Yahoo Answers, each users are given points, to encourage participation. You can only asked this few questions with the given points, and if you want to ask more, you need to answer other people’s questions or vote for the best answers…