Category: Japan
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The Second Day of Ramen-mas
Friday night was ramen and retro gaming night, as you might be able to tell from the place setting and the SNES controllers. The tenugui I brought back from Tokyo, a Traditional Japanese dyed piece of cotton, became the focus of the place setting. The ceramic spoons were Chinese, but then again, so were the noodles!…
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Red Bull and Ramen
If Red Bull was a person… How would you describe their personality? This was just one of the interesting questions I was asked as part of a market research survey around soft drinks. I approached as I was docking my Belfast Bike near Avoca by a friendly looking woman, who walked with purpose towards me.…
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See you later, Nagoya
Where did the time go?! I officially finished my elective on the 7th of August, and after a great send off (and a not so great bike incident), I was on my way to Kyoto. I arrived in style by the Shinkansen, also known as the bullet train, and the journey only took half an…
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Cycling and Sightseeing – Part 2
Continued from Cycling and Sightseeing -Part 1 My next stop was a little street market on the way to Nagoya station. There was lots of food and drink, and people selling all manner of things. When I reached the halfway point of the street, several performers and a presenter were gathering, along with a small…
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Cycling and Sightseeing – Part 1
This post is now a two-parter. I don’t exactly know how it ended up being so long, but it is what it is. Enjoy! TL:DR Cycling in the Japanese summer is killer, but fun, and I explored Nagoya castle, downtown area, ate the world’s best pizza, and visited the zoo. Turns out there is a…
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Shiba Tofuya Ukai
TL:DR I had a fantastic meal with the vascular surgery team in one of the most famous restaurants in Japan, so read on for more delicious details. Things are a little less hectic here in Nagoya. The pace of life is slower than Tokyo, but it has given me a bit of a breather, and…
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Nagoya Nights (And days, mostly)
I’m fast settling in to Nagoya, though I don’t have long to explore this interesting city. This weekend I will attempt (probably in vain) to cram as much sightseeing in as possible. I have already been to the area around Nagoya station, but there is plenty more to do. Nagoya isn’t a big destination for…
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Farewell Tokyo and Hello Nagoya
TL:DR I arrived in Nagoya on Sunday by the bullet train after a fantastic send off at Jikei, and I’m settling into a different pace of life at the molecular pathology lab. I can’t believe it has been over a month since I arrived in Japan. The time has flown by, and just as I…
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Izu’nt it Lovely
As you may not have gathered from the rather cryptic, and not misspelled, title, I spent last Sunday and Monday on the Izu peninsula staying at a ryokan with my host family. Our journey started at Tokyo station, where we boarded the train bound for Izu. The journey was probably the most interesting train ride I have…
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A Sleepless Night in Tsukiji
Sleep is wonderful. Not having sleep is the opposite of wonderful. Not wonderful? No…it’s a lot worse than that. Perhaps I’ve waited so long to write about this particular experience because of how much I wanted to forget the time around it. Sleep deprivation does not make a me a happy person. And keeping a…
Ordinary Decent Gamer 