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United States
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Male
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Age 38
Hey, I'm Dylan! I love traveling and love Japan! Been living in Japan since I was 22, so about 12 years now. Originally from the states but Japan just feels like home to me now. My favorite thing about traveling is trying the different foods in each area!
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Stopped by Saizeriya for lunch and got a cod roe and shrimp doria (たらこと海老のドリア).Saizeriya is always a](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/1fdf5f0a9f026681ebd70f468e61dfeab5f34811.jpg)
Stopped by Saizeriya for lunch and got a cod roe and shrimp doria (たらこと海老のドリア).
Saizeriya is always a great place to stop by for lunch as it's generally quick and cheap.
It was a set meal so it came with a soup and salad as well, but I forgot to to photos of those.
The soup was a sort of consommé soup and was nothing special, but it tasted good and was all-you-can-drink so that was pretty nice. I ended up getting a few cups of it.
The shrimp and cod doria was great and I love the nori on top - plentiful and tastes great.
The best part is all of this was only ¥500 so it's really reasonable, as you'd expect of Saizeriya.
Just thought I'd share this today, nothing too special
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Was in Kanda the other day for an errand and stopped by this place called](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/6f41f350bd77bfa823912a3259d938d689c13615.jpg)
Was in Kanda the other day for an errand and stopped by this place called "Soba Dokoro Kameya" (そば処 かめや) outside of Kanda Station.
It says "立食い" which means "standing noodles," but I didn't actually see any places to stand and eat so maybe it just meant that it was simple and quick like a standing noodle shop.
I've never actually experienced what it's like to eat at a standing noodle restaurant (and actually stand while eating) but I think I prefer sitting anyways.
I like to relax when I eat so I suppose that's why, but I should at least try it once, who knows, I might like it.
Anyways, the place seems really affordable. I ordered the Ten Tama Soba since it was the most popular dish and it tasted great.
The soup was really good and the egg was perfectly cooked.
The texture of the noodles was also perfect.
It's definitely a place to check out if your in the Kanda area and looking for some noodles.
I think they may only be open during the morning and night, but I went around 4pm so maybe they close around that time to prepare for dinner.
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Visited a Chinese restaurant in Akabane called Maraeki (麻辣駅, Malaeki?) over the weekend and got some](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/a13c70897c351d032e7858b6878a05586bca8f73.jpg)
Visited a Chinese restaurant in Akabane called Maraeki (麻辣駅, Malaeki?) over the weekend and got some spicy Szechuan noodles (四川風麻辣麺). The photo looked really good and they had tan tan noodles as well but I wanted to try something different.
Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of the flavor. I think the noodles were great, and the bok choy tasted good as well, but for me the soup wasn't exactly what I was expecting.
That being said I don't think it's that the flavor was bad, just that it simply wasn't for me.
I enjoy spicy ramen, and the "麻辣" part of the name is "mala," apparently a spicy, numbing sauce made of Sichuanese peppercorn, chili pepper, and other ingredients simmered in oil.
I went in not knowing this and paid the price I suppose.
The noodles weren't actually that spicy in my opinion, but like I said, the flavor just wasn't for me.
I think for anyone who enjoys Chinese food though it's a great place as it's quite affordable and the other dishes we ordered (fried rice and xiaolongbao (steamed buns)), although not pictured here, tasted great.
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Went to Ootoya for lunch today and got a nice Alaska pollack set meal with vegetables pickled in bla](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/77932c44ba75ba483093ff1a613b1aaec67e2c24.jpg)
Went to Ootoya for lunch today and got a nice Alaska pollack set meal with vegetables pickled in black vinegar (すけそう鱈と野菜の黒酢あん定食).
Cost 920 yen and it tasted great. I really like Ootoya because it's a nice place if you're looking to eat some traditional Japanese food and I'm surprised it's actually not more popular.
The food is always great and you even get to choose the types of rice you want and how much. It's pretty reasonable cost-wise considering what you get as well.
The ordering system is really convenient as well. With the electronic ordering tablets it's easy to add something to your order and they have English as well so if you're not confident with your Japanese you don't need to worry about it
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Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]A nice Christmas tree I found near Akabane Station. I'm pretty excited for the holidays. I like the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/59e12804c88878a55a531bbda3ff4f801d9fd0f5.jpg)
A nice Christmas tree I found near Akabane Station. I'm pretty excited for the holidays. I like the romantic format of Christmas in Japan much more than I do the spending time with family version in America. There's something about the cold weather that makes it feel romantic spending time together with the person special to you.
Another great thing about this time of year is all of the buffets!
I love going to the buffets and trying all the different food. It's a much different style than the U.S. too which is fun.
I can't say I don't miss eating a nice Christmas ham or turkey with some stuffing (basically the same as thanksgiving lol), but what's awesome about the buffets is they always have some sort of prime rib or king crab, one really special item that everyone lines up for lol.
One thing I miss is the holiday portion of Christmas back in America, but the New Years holiday in Japan more than makes up for it.
Also the illuminations in Japan are always awesome.
Places like Ginza, Tokyo Station, etc. always have incredibly beautiful showings.
Didn't get to go to any last year, but this year I'm hoping to be able to visit at least one!
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Went to a restaurant called](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/539f0b4bc36ef6d22d9f31c881fa165d9751463e.jpg)
Went to a restaurant called "Taraku" (寿司たらく尾久駅前店) near Oku Station that I've passed many times. It's name says it's the Oku Station branch so I suppose it must be a chain restaurant, not sure how many there are though.
The place was quite nice and they had single-person counter seats as well as table seats.
The tempura set meal was ~1000 yen and again I got another discount using the PayPay app so it only cost me about ~700 yen.
It's a pretty nice place though and they seem to have a bunch of different set meals as well as seafood bowls and other stuff like that. Definitely a place to drop by if you're in the mood for sushi, tempura, or whatever kind of sushi you're thinking of.
They have a lot of takeout items as well and I think they do delivery as well, so they're probably on the Uber Eats and Menu apps as well but I haven't given them a look yet.
The potato salad and miso soup tasted great as well.
Tsukemono is always good so there was no difference here either lol. Everything tasted great. Definitely recommend checking it out!
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Went to a restaurant in Shinagawa called Ogasawara Shoten. They had some really tasty yakiniku and t](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/6e0913fe21535e1d462de7db2332354a04a882d5.jpg)
Went to a restaurant in Shinagawa called Ogasawara Shoten. They had some really tasty yakiniku and the drinks were really cheap as well. I ended up getting some sort of kalbi set, I don't remember the name but you can see what it came with in the picture lol.
The yakiniku tasted great but the grill was a little too hot at first so I had to turn the heat down. I had to flip my meat over really fast to make sure it didn't burn at first ?. It was a fun experience though. After I got it turned down though I had a nice relaxing meal. The miso soup was nice as well (it all tasted great to be honest) and afterwards they had a free coffee service which was a nice way to end lunch.
They had a pay pay campaign going on as well, so I got a nice discount for using it. Really handy app
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Went to Shinjuku Station the other day and took of photo of the giant metal sculpture while I was th](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/71c1fdeda8a41e39156503a4865acc499c6a20d0.jpg)
Went to Shinjuku Station the other day and took of photo of the giant metal sculpture while I was there. I've only passed it a few times since it was erected during the pandemic, but my curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had some extra time anyways so I snapped a quick shot of it.
I did a little research on it and it was apparently made by the famous arist Tomokazu Matsuyama and the theme of theme for lack of a better word is to greet visitors with surprise and bewilderment.
It's pretty interesting and looks different from every angle as well. If you look at the right side of the photo (it's kind of cut off) you can see it holding a flower with its arm outstretched.
The name of it is Hanao-san, and while I'm not sure of the origin behind the name it has certainly piqued my interest...
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Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]I took these photos last week at Shinagawa Station. They were having a small lacquerware exhibition](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/d050ff1febf245b8a6e2b1982747e40b4330ab28.jpg)
![[Image2]I took these photos last week at Shinagawa Station. They were having a small lacquerware exhibition](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/5814a554accd7342504ef0638e05ecdba90f5b3a.jpg)
![[Image3]I took these photos last week at Shinagawa Station. They were having a small lacquerware exhibition](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/a46fc56fb1f13c1589f80100c9d0a365401a4800.jpg)
I took these photos last week at Shinagawa Station. They were having a small lacquerware exhibition sort of thing and were selling goods from I suppose Naraijuku as is written on the cloth, but I don't remember if there was anything else to the setup.
They had a lot of really cool lacquerware pieces though and I managed to pick up a couple of spoons and some extra chopsticks. I would have liked to buy more, but unfortunately am not in the need for much tableware at the moment lol.
They also had some traditional children's toys and I was considering getting a Jacob's Ladder since I hadn't seen one in years, but decided to pass lol.
The Wagasa on the top of the stall were also for sale too.
Only ¥1500 and they're handmade!
It was a cool exhibit though, I'm not sure if it was just a one day thing or if they're still going for a while but definitely drop by if you're at Shinagawa Station and see it open.
Dylan Gibson posted.
![[Image1]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/741e342e6764b032455c5ee159b84ad284562091.jpg)
![[Image2]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/10543006519a3557c0d7f2cadecacd42da6c5b8e.jpg)
![[Image3]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/e432a8a7a523269be801df0469992f5c8a8a3da6.jpg)
![[Image4]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/996684d135ebc4c0ec4f39c985b36f9c09b74b96.jpg)
![[Image5]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/63f27e7210bfa0b7f9894223a1dee929e3e3cae7.jpg)
![[Image6]Managed to stop by Ueno Zoo the other day for a little bit and while I didn't get to see much of the](https://um1-img.cooljapan-videos.com/files/member_posts/image/4c7e1ea8e8a2d89e52dbd0a62f31b65f4b163c09.jpg)
