Here in Japan, a good headphone system is a must in order to deflect yourself from xenophobic adolescents who like to interrupt your walk with shouts of “Hello!”, sometimes from across the street. These are not necessarily friendly attempts at communication. Most of the time they are trying to illicit a reaction so their friends […]
Japan loves its yogurt. Yogurt-like drinks are still delivered by bicycle daily and supermarket shelves are full of varieties. So I wasn’t entirely surprised when I came across this rather unique crossbreed, yogurt liqueur, in a small food atelier. There are quite a few mass produced yogurt based spirits, but this particular hooch was made my a […]
It’s that time of year here in Sapporo, where the snow just keeps on coming, homes are cleaned, and KFC pre-orders are made (oh, we’ll get to that). But for my mother and father-in-law it means mahjong. More accurately, 3 days of Japanese riichi mahjong that suck every brain cell from my head and leaves […]
1. Floss twice a day 2. Talk less / Blog more 3. Snowshoe / Snowtrek often 4. Use social media more 5. Learn Python and make some contribution to an open source project 6. Read one book at a time 7. Hoard money / discard that which doesn’t “spark joy” 8. Beat Super Mario Bros. […]
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Life-Changing KonMari Method by Marie Kondō My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have a secret dark fantasy: Marie Kondo spends the day traveling throughout Tokyo, helping others to seperate objects that spark joy from those that don’t. She does this gracefully, with a balanced air of Shinto/Buddhist […]
Since my first visits to Japan, I would come across a variety of gadgets in stores like Don Quijote and Tokyu Hands, that made me scratch my head. Some of the more interesting of those quirky products are beer can attachments that create a creamier, more substantial head after pouring. This has always perplexed me. […]
When one of the most intense snowstorms in the last 50 years finally cleared out, I was itching to get back on trail. But I worried that 80+ centimeters of the unpacked goodstuff might make the going a bit rough. Just getting up onto the traihead to Asahiyama was gonna be a chore, but with […]
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not unexpectededly, I loved this book. It thoroughly dismantles the common American rhetoric about European “welfare states” and flips the script on perceptions of dependency in modern capitalist societies. Who is dependent on whom? Are […]
I love Hokkaido’s winter. When I strap on my Tubbs Wilderness snowshoes I feel a true sense of relief, like their 180 degree rotation bindings should be part of my natural gait. In fact, when I am not wearing them I feel downright naked, and slightly depressed. So I try to hit the snowshoeing trail […]
When 48 hours of near continuous snowfall dumped on Sapporo this past weekend, I had one thought on my mind – laying the first tracks in the 3-4 feet of unpacked powder. Even as I shoveled snow for nearly 5 total hours, I mentally planned my routes for the snowshoeing season that was suddenly upon […]