Igor The Troll

There are many hot bath Onsens – Hot Springs in Japan, but recently the Japanese people too busy to go to an Onsen by the Ocean or in the mountains. They visit Onsens made right in the middle of a big city.

Japan founded on the land of volcanoes has a lot of hot steaming water under ground.
To make an Onsen in a big city like Osaka they just have to dig deeper to find the natural mineral water. Onsen is great for relaxing and healing your body. The price of going to a public Onsen is about 500 to 899 Yen. It is great to go to an Onsen in a winter because the outside temperature is cold and the hot water is hot, making your body most relaxed. After you go to an Onsen make sure to go to a Yakiniku restaurant and have a nice direr of barbecued beef on a grill.

Here are some pictures of a Hot Bath Onsen in Osaka Japan and a video of me having Yakiniku dinner with my wife.

Japanese Onsen

Yakiniku Dinner

I am sure you heard of Chinese people in China eating strange food like cats, dog, tiger and donkey penis, monkey brains and other strange stuff. Pretty much Chinese will eat anything that flies except helicopters and planes, and everything that walks except cars and bicycles. The Chinese do not discriminate when it comes to food. I think that up to 500 years ago, they use to eat each other as a victory prize; when one warlord conquered another, the winer would eat the looser for lunch! Makes sense, ergonomics, eliminate your enemy and do not let anything go to waste!

I am not Chinese, but like the saying goes, “When in Rome do as the Romans do!” I have experimented a little with strange Chinese delicacies. This last trip, in Beijing I ate fried scorpions. A trip before this one, not quite China but Laos I had dog meat, unknowingly. Dog meat suppose to be an aphrodisiac.

Here are a few interesting pictures i took of strange food in China: Scorpions, a Starfish, and a Goat Head. I wanted to get a picture of a dog gutted and cut in half that a fellow traveler had, but he guarded it with jealousy! Sounds like I will need to make another trip to China to get that coveted skinned dog meat picture. I heard the place to go is in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Fried Starfish

Fried Scorpions

Fried Large Scorpion

Goat Head

When I travel in China I love to eat Chinese Hot Pot, which is a soup where you add beef, pork, and vegetables. You add the stuff yourself while the soup boils on a small flame.

When you traveling by yourself, it is not fun to eat Hot Pot alone, so it is great to join some other people when you go into the restaurant. Chinese people are very friendly to foreigners and always welcome your company. Just ask them if you can join them and order the assorted condiments for your meal. Do not oder too much, because the portions are really large. Order one meat and a few vegetables. The people who you will join will let you eat some of their stuff anyway!

This time in Shenyang, China I joined a young family for Hot Pot Party and made a few new friends. Thomas is a international business man selling computers in China. He speak English very well and we were able to talk to each other and have fun!

While traveling in the North East China Heihe, which is right on the border with Russia, I was lucky to find a Shish Kabob restaurant operated by a Muslim Chinese. Very authentic Shish Kabobs and very cheap.

Heihe is a provincial town 12 hour train ride from Harbin in the North East China. Durring the end of 19th century North East China which is called Manchuria was colonized by Russians, so in Heihe the border town many Chinese people speak Russian.

As you know Russian people like to eat Shish Kabobs and drink Vodka! Well, I was lucky to find the authentic Shish Kabob restaurant and met some Chinese people there who I joined for a meal and some Vodka!

We talked about politcs and economy, how communism has its nostalgia, and how capitalism industrializing China very rapidly.  It makes it fun to travel when you speak different languages. You come accross different people and join them for some fun!

If you ever wondered what is a Japanese Okonomiyaki and how do Japanese people eat it in Japan, this is for you.

Okonomiyaki in Japan is very popular in Kansai area: Osaka, Kobe, and Nara; as well as in Hiroshima.

So the Pizza like concoction is a mixture of cabbage, flour, and eggs. The batter is mixed up and put on a grill. On top you put a selection of different extras like noodles, shrimp, thin slices of pork. After the Okonomiyaki is cooked you add some Okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, thinly sliced dry fish strips of 1 centimeter in size (Katso Bushi), and finally Nori. It is ready to eat! Please use chopsticks when eating Okonomiyaki! If you ask for a fork the restaurant people will think you some dumb Gaijin!

The dry fish strips will turn alive to the heat, and start moving!

There are two ways of preparing Okonomiyaki in Japan, one the cook cooks it for you and a waitress brings it to your counter or table, and another is when a waitress cooks it for you. I personally like the later style.

Here are some nice pictures that I took when I went to eat Okonomiyaki with my friend in Osaka, Japan

Okonomiyaki Restaurant

Okonomiyaki Restaurant Table

Kayo at Okonomiyaki Restaurant

Okonomiyaki Restaurant Waitress

Cooking Okonomiyaki in a Restaurant

Okonomiyaki in Japanese Restaurant

Paying for Okonomiyaki in a Restaurant