Burger Update #2: Mos Burger

For those unfamiliar with Japanese fast food chains, Mos Burger is a large chain with locations all over Japan. Not quite as many as McDonald's, but still they're all over the place. They have quite a variety of burgers, sandwiches, and other things, and are also known for using higher quality ingredients than the run-of-the-mill fast food place. To top things off, the food tastes very good and doesn't break the bank. So what stops Mos Burger from annihilating any and all competition? Well, as my friend Jake pointed out to me during my first Mos Burger visit in Kyoto, the quantity of food leaves a little bit to be desired. For the same price, you can get more food at most other places. That's my only complaint about Mos Burger, and it's really not that big of a deal. As I get used to the smaller portions over here, after a few months I probably won't even notice it that much.
My favorite thing to get at Mos Burger is THE Mos Burger, which comes with their special sauce. The regular hamburger or cheeseburger is good too, but the special sauce isn't simply a thousand island imitation. It's hard to put my finger on it, but it's a tangy sauce that seems to have some curry spice as well as some tomato in it. Either way, that's the deal maker for me, so I usually get that. The burger also comes with tomatoes and onions, which go great with the sauce. In addition, I noticed on the wall there was a sign mentioning how their hamburger patties are a mix of beef and pork, which makes sense. They taste a little bit different, but by no means taste artificial.
As I was getting to earlier, thanks to the quality and taste, Mos Burger is superior to McDonald's and just about any other fast food chain in Japan. It's actually very impressive that they've been able to maintain such high-quality on such a large scale. Taste-wise, I'd say Mos Burger is on par with In-n-Out and Tommy's, but again because of the portions, the duo from southern California win out.
Here are some pictures of my burger run to Mos Burger last Sunday:
White Grape Soda, Fries, and a Mos Burger with cheese.


They also have a list of where all of their vegetables come from (the name of the farmer and the location!), pretty cool I think. Every Mos Burger I've seen has this.

Last Names

Since arriving at my school and seeing my list of students, as well as co-workers' names, I have noticed a large number of names I have never seen before, as well as a lack of names I have seen very often. I am yet to see a Tanaka, Matsumoto, Yamada, Takahashi, Kuwahara, Ito, Ono, Fukushima, or Kimura, as well as many other common names. In addition, there are many names I have never seen or heard of before, like Yanagisawa, Nagawatari, Ego, Ogihara, Uchibori, Horiuchi, Aruga, Kirikubo, and the best of all, Yoda. The dramatic difference in names is probably related to location more than anything. From what I've heard, back in the day a lot of people chose last names based on where they lived or what they did for a living. Seeing as the terrain out here is a little different than that of Tokyo, Osaka, etc., it's not that surprising that names are little different. The process or tendencies in making names was probably different too, since they were separated by a fair amount of distance. I have seen a lot of names out here with "sawa" which means stream, as well as "hori" or "bori" which means to dig. I am sure there has been plenty of linguistic research on where names come from and evolve, but I'm not so interested in that I'd actually go looking for any of it. Of course people move around or change last names all the time, so I'm sure it's somewhat hard to keep track of who comes from where. It's not a big deal or anything, I just find it interesting.

Eric vs. Ueda Garbage Collection, Pt. 1

If you've ever been to Japan, you know trash over here generally gets separated into two categories: burnable and non-burnable. Sometimes, the third category of recyclable is there too, but that is also part of non-burnable usually. Despite understanding the above very well in previous residences, the garbage collection agency in Ueda have not made my disposing of garbage very easy. When I look at the color coordinated trash map they gave me, I see at least seven different categories of trash, all of which have their own day, place, and colored bag to be thrown away in. So I put some real time into it and studied the map very closely, buying all of the different colored bags (yes, we have to buy them, and guess who makes them...), and checking the calendar to see what day is what. I was glad to get so much of the trash out of my apartment, since a lot of it had been left over by the previous teacher (his things, not his trash). So, you can understand my frustration when I got a knock on my door and had all of my trash returned to me for being put out in the wrong bag, or on the wrong day, or at the wrong place. Apparently there's a recycle center we have to take our recycling to ourselves, while the garbage collectors collect the non-recyclable things. Oh, except for plastic bottles. They can take those too on the non-burnable non-recyclable day. Whatever you do, don't think for one second they'll take any other recycling on that day, it's your job to take bottles, cans, and cardboard to the recycle center yourself. Oh, and make sure you use the separate green bag that says "recycle" on it only for plastic bottles. Or else, all hell breaks loose.
So since having my trash returned to me, most of it has been sitting outside on my little balcony, and will probably do so until I figure out what to do with it. With work and so many errands on the weekends, as well as general frustration with the system, I haven't been able to properly get rid of it, whatever that my entail.
Let's get one thing straight: I'm all for being environmentally friendly and all for assimilating into the community. Those things are fine, I'll do my best. But do these garbage collectors care more about the colors of the bags than actually collecting what's in them? After this first encounter, it definitely seems that way. In my Japanese reading class last year in Kyoto, we read an article that was kind of a social commentary about how a lot of people here follow rules and structure very seriously, and often forget to be "flexible" or "adjust to the situation". Maybe quite a few people are like that, but just like anywhere, there are all kinds. I'd like to make it known that there are two people at my school that run the show, and while one loves rules and is quite serious about them, the other wears goofy ties to work (we're not supposed to), never shows any anger if you forget something, and pulls out his shirt and puts on slippers after the last class of the day when we're in the office. So just like anywhere, there are all kinds.
In a somewhat related note, speaking of following rules, apparently there is a ramen shop in the town next us that has a bunch of rules, the main one being that people aren't allowed to talk. I immediately thought of The Soup Nazi from Seinfeld, so I'll have to try out this Ramen Nazi sometime and report back.

Burger Update #1: Freshness Burger

When you go to try a burger in a shopping mall food court and you see a sign posted below the menu saying that today is the place's last day of operation, you are probably not the only one to immediately lower your expectations. However, today's burger run to the Freshness Burger in Ueda was surprisingly good, and apparently just in the nick of time. The sign on the menu didn't get into details, but thanked its customers for their long time support. While the line was never as long as the bibinba or okonomiyaki places in the same food court, there was a steady flow of customers that clearly felt the need to get their burger on.
As I mentioned, I wasn't expecting this place to be as good as it was. Upon further investigation, I found out this place is a decent sized chain, though this was their only location in Nagano prefecture. So as a chain burger joint in a food court, shutting down for whatever reason, and called Freshness Burger, the last I was expecting was for my burger to actually be fresh. The fact that this burger was very good and fresh is not only a testament to the product, but also to the employees who were still working their butts off. It was by no means mind-blowing or life-changing, but it is definitely a place I'll miss having around. It would have been a good go-to place for a burger run. There's still a Mos Burger in town, which is also a chain and known for fresh ingredients. I'd say Freshness Burger is on the same level as Mos Burger, where it's better than your average fast food, but still not as good as Tommy's. I might have to try and make my own Tommy's here.



A friend from training told me about a Hawaiian burger place that has a few locations around Tokyo. That may not be the next burger update, but hopefully down the road. It's called Kua Aina, and sounds like it's pretty good. The last Hawaiian burger place I went to was in Kyoto, called Very Berry Cafe, and that was delicious too.

Curry

This is the curry section of the giant grocery store in town. Pretty much all of that is curry, and I really didn't know what to do after seeing it.

Guitar!

So I've been attempting to post another video this whole week, but for some reason it's not working. Maybe the video's too big, or maybe there's a firewall of some kind. I figured I should just post something anyway, and try to stay up to date.
I finally picked up a guitar last weekend, and have been very occupied by it since then. It was used and cheap, and all in all seems to be pretty good. It was made in Nagoya by a company called Morris, who I've never heard of, though I don't know a whole lot about guitars, etc. I've made a habit out of coming home for lunch, saving money, and rocking out for a few minutes before going back to work.
I've also made some progress in cleaning up the apartment, which had a lot of things left over by the previous teacher. While a lot of them are very useful (dishes, tools, a bike), a lot of things were taking up more than their share in the room (bedding, books, snowboard). The other foreign teacher is actually taking a lot of it off my hands, as she snowboards and will probably get a little more use out of the beginners Japanese textbooks than I will. Once I have the place how I like it, I'll be sure to post some pictures.
Things to coming soon on the blog: Burger Updates, Eric vs. Ueda Garbage Collection Pt. 1, and maybe some photos of some dishes I cooked and want to introduce you to. I cooked Bitter Melon Champloo and Mabo Eggplant, and think some of you might enjoy those things. Ingredients should be available at your nearest Asian supermarket.

Scenery

Here's a video of some scenery I shot while on the train coming back from Nagano city this past weekend. There's a pretty good variety of restaurants and stores, so that might be the place to go if I can't find something here. It's only about 40 minutes by local train, so it's not too difficult. I also heard Karuizawa to the east has some things to offer, so maybe another weekend for that.

Reading Material

In my journey across the sea, my two suitcases were filled mostly with two things: clothing and things to read. The clothing is mostly for work, which means suits, ties, shoes, etc. The reading material, though substantially less in number, is a lot more varied. Prior to my departure my buddy Eug gave me a terrific book, one that had me hooked in these first few weeks during every moment of free time. It's called An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-English writer, and I finished it a few days ago. I highly recommend it for anyone at all interested in post-WWII Japan. I have since moved on to a book I've been reading for the past year off and on, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I'm about halfway through book one of three, so hopefully I make a lot of progress with my after-work reading habit. Here's what else I brought with me to read:
The Beatles (authorized biography) by Hunter Davies
The Short Novels of John Steinbeck
Double Nickels on the Dime by Michael T. Fournier
Five copies of Waxpoetics
It Ain't Got That Swing (If It Don't Mean A Thing) by Haruki Murakami (Japanese)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (translated by Haruki Murakami into Japanese)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Coffee in Kyoto (a guide to coffee shops in Kyoto)
Chinese phrases book
Constructive Living by David K. Reynolds
The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beatles

So actually, it's a little less varied than I'd imagined, but whatever. Hopefully I can finish reading everything.

World Cup

The World Cup is coming soon, and just in case you didn't know, the ramen aisle at out big grocery store is ready. Yes, those are the same flavor, just that the blue is home and the white is away. I bought one of each, and have not yet decided whether I will actually eat them. I should try to get the TV in my closet out and working before the World Cup starts, though I may not be home enough to watch too much. The other foreign teacher at my school is from England and is a "football" fan, so maybe we'll watch a few somewhere. Oh yeah, guess who we play in our first match on the 12th.....England. I'm sure Landon Donovan will show those colonial lobster-backs what we're all about!

Online!

In what should have been very simple, but by all accounts required a few strokes of luck, I am now online from my own humble apartment. Despite breaking post office's very standard operating procedure on non-received packages, this morning I was able to get my hands on the envelope the necessary username and password for connecting to the internet. Multiple forms of identification and documentation proved to be of the utmost value in pleading with the rule abiding counter attendant, as well as politely mentioning I was waiting for "something important". In addition, once said materials were home and safe, actually connecting to the internet was another difficult task. However, as I type now at 11:38 pm, after a long day of lessons, and with a stomach full of pasta and instant miso soup, I can finally say I am connected with all of you in what I hope will be a much more consistent way.
Now now, don't be fooled by the rambling of the first paragraph. I do have some goods to share with all of you tonight. Here are some photos I've managed to take in the last month or so.










This is the outside of training center we stayed at for the first two weeks.











This is the same training center, just the view of the road and Camry.




















This is a shot of the room I shared with two other teachers during my stay there. I'm glad everyone got along so well, or else it would have been tough in such close quarters.


Now, this is where things start to get a little better. This is the view from my porch, from which, on a clear day you can see a few more mountains.


This is a view of the city from a bridge I biked to the other day. My apartment should be on the other side of that brown building, what looks like it could be a parking garage. Below are some more shots I took from the bridge.


The Chikuma River, facing north.


Facing southwest.


Facing south.
As is clear in the pictures, we are situated right where the mountains have started, as they are of a significantly larger to the north, west, and east. I'm sure it was a very strategic location to build Ueda Castle, which Masayuki Sanada's army defended from Ieyasu Tokugawa's army of three times as many more men. I can't wait to go check out the castle, I rode my bike by it this morning on the way to and from the post office, but that's it. That will be another day.
I am a little exhausted, so after posting this I will be forced to pick between going to bed or reading (and finishing) the book I've been hooked on the last few weeks, An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-English writer. Once I finish it, I will tell you all about it~