@kitchen@simian.rodeo
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

kitchen

@kitchen@simian.rodeo

On a break from my 5 year world tour.

Recently diagnosed with colon cancer so a lot of my posts now are going to be about that. I’ll CW any super graphic stuff but consider this a CW: cancer for my entire feed.

Currently: 🇺🇸
Previously: 🇯🇵🇰🇷🇹🇼🇳🇿🇳🇱

I love cats. And dogs.

Estoy aprendiendo Español.

Awkwardly searchable.

#FuckCancer

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Starting a new series here on the Kitchen show: manhole covers.

Many cities and regions in Japan have their own specially designed manhole covers. https://livejapan.com/en/in-hokkaido/in-pref-hokkaido/in-sapporo_chitose/article-a0001529/

I’m not going to try to catch ‘em all, but I’ll try to share the ones I come across in my journeys!

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Another from Hakodate: squid!

Hakodate is well known for their squid production. The morning market near the station you can buy live squid!

These 3 look like they’re having a bit of a dance.

b0rk, to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

I almost never request ideas for new zines but -- what topics are you having a hard time learning?

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@b0rk rust borrow checker 🤣

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Achievement unlocked: successfully sneak my tattoos into a no tattoo onsen.

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

In my defense I’m not even sure it’s no tattoos. There’s one sign on the way to the changing rooms that’s kinda up on the wall above sight line and it’s only Japanese and I mean I’m in an onsen I’m not about to bust out my phone and take pictures so I can translate, right?

I don’t love playing the ignorant tourist card but the no tattoos at onsen rule is one I will gladly play it for. The policy is stupid.

est, to random
@est@emily.news avatar

did y'all know about this? you can melt cheese onto tortilla chips in the microwave

it's dank

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@est mix some sriracha and sour cream and you’ve got a great dip or post-microwave topping add too

est, (edited ) to random
@est@emily.news avatar

anybody else here enjoy repeatedly pouring off the thin, watery liquid that separates out from their sriracha until it becomes more of a paste?

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@est @kf TIL “decanting” leaves stuff behind. Maybe that’s why I never understood why I poured wine from a perfectly good bottle into another perfectly good bottle other than to be 💅 and also because it meant I was gonna drink the whole bottle

kitchen, to random
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Ok wow so I’m super glad I found a place to stay here in Iwanai because this day has been magical.

A thread:

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

First up: the town mascot is ADORABLE.

This town is famous for their fishing and seafood production.

Also back in 1922, a man named Dr Kizuko Shimoda decided to plant some asparagus here and it worked out.

So of course the town mascot is an Alaska pollack wielding a stalk of asparagus. And they lean hard into that branding.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwanai,_Hokkaido#Mascot

A manhole cover from Iwanai showing a fish behind the wheel of a boat with a captains hat on. Mountains, seagulls, and the sun in the background
Taramaru painted in black and white on a paving stone giving a thumbs up.
Text blurb from the local museum about the history of asparagus and Alaska pollack in Iwanai town. It says (auto transcribed from image): Japanese asparagus creator Dr. Kikuzo Shimoda was born in 1895 as the third son of a rice and grain merchant in Iwanai town. In 1909, Kikuzo entered the Tokyo School of Medicine, the predecessor of Tokyo University of Pharmacy, and after graduation, while working as a housekeeper, he taught farmers about chemical fertilizers. But the cold weather in 1913 damaged many of the farms he led. As a result of the investigation of the cause, he attempted to produce crops resistant to cold damage. After eight years of research, he was confident that asparagus could be grown in Hokkaido as a cold-weather crop. So in 1922, Dr. Shimoda planted asparagus in 40 hectares of sand dunes in Iwanai. This was the beginning of asparagus cultivation in Japan. In 1924, he founded Japan Asparagus Co. Ltd, the first canned food factory in Asia. Dr. Shimoda also succeeded in extracting vitamin A from the liver of Alaska pollock, and is known to have obtained a patent and sold it worldwide. As a result of this research, he was also interested in nutrition education. In 1936, he established a nutrition vocational school at his own expense and recruited students from all provinces and trained nutrition education instructors.

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

But wait, there’s more!

Another Taramaru printed on a paving stone
Another paving stone Taramaru, this time with color!

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

But wait, there’s even more! Taramaru has a friend, Beniko!

Beniko seems to carry around a basket maybe with some fruit in it and sometimes has a flower (a daisy?) on their head.

The gift shop at the michi-no-eki had a bunch of different styles of washi tape with them on it!

Taramaru and Beniko printed on the same paving stone with a little heart in the middle. They’re holding hands
Rolls of washi tape in a basket at a souvenir shop with Taramaru and Beniko on them

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Next up: I went to a local cafe and was greeted warmly by the proprietor (who spoke great English and I later found out had spent a month hitchhiking in New Zealand) and her parents. Eventually I got chatting with her parents using google translate and they were loving the stories from my trip.

I literally can’t tell you how awesome a tool google translate is. Not just for figuring out menus and signs but even just for chatting with people. It’s seriously amazing.

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Turns out the mom has an old box truck she’s turned into a van life mobile styled like a circus wagon and she visits disaster areas and puts on puppet shows for the kids?! And brings her dog, too!

The back of the truck with the door open. There’s a flip up door that turns into kind of an awning space, a lower section that makes sort of a porch, with a small ladder to climb up into. And it’s decorated with a line of flags. Inside that there’s a wall with a big wooden door and a window next to the door. A sticker on the window says “beware of dog”
The interior of the box. On the left is a sink, a place for a refrigerator, water supply. Cooking stove, a large battery, some storage, a window with curtains, an analog clock, and a wire wreath sort of thing above the window with a dog silhouette and I think it says “barking”. On the right is another window and a small ledge that folds out. A small guitar hangs next to the window. On the far wall is more storage including a place to hang a fanny pack. The floor is wide open and is where she sleeps, using a futon mattress.
A not great photo of the dog through the passenger window of the truck

dantleech, to random
@dantleech@fosstodon.org avatar

Pretty sure I've moaned about this already, but I've just been refused a 1 year, £6 a month, phone contract due to my credit rating.

At the same time I was able to get a mortgage 🤸‍♂️

Probably something to do with living abroad for many years, but... it's £6 a month 😬

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@dantleech wat

wat

wat

wat

wat

wat

wat

kitchen, to random
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

Ok I’ve been to 3 countries now known for their convenience stores and I think I can now authoritatively say:

Number one spot goes to Taiwan. They are large. Great food. Air conditioning. And indoor seating. And there’s one 20 feet from you at all times.

Followed closely by Japan: they are large. Better selection than Taiwan but not quite as frequent, especially in more rural areas. No indoor seating. No outdoor seating. I’m often sitting on a curb.

South Korea: they’re ok.

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

What a majestic sunset.

#CycleTouring #Japan #Hokkaido

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

A tourist attraction I didn’t know I needed to visit.

The first concrete electricity pole in Japan.

Information sign about the pole. Auto transcribed text on the sign: Japan's First Concrete Electricity Pole This innocuous reinforced concrete pole was erected by Hokkaido's electricity company in October 1923. Ten metres tall. it is 47 cm wide at the base and tapers to 19.5 cm wide at the top. In the early 20th century fire caused great loss of life and property in Hakodate. In response to this, concrete came to be recognised as a practical alternative to wood and was used in the city. The Higashi Honganji Temple in Motomachi is a notable example; this electricity pole is another. You may have noticed that there is a similar pole on the corner to your left, which was reinstated in 1996 after having been relieved of its duties in 1971. They are often lightheardedly referred to as a married couple. This pole has been here since the days when wooden electricity poles were the norm, and even though it has surpassed its expected service life, it now also stands as a point of reference for change in the city. CITY OF HAKODATE

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

No YOU just waited 10 minutes for a team just to ride it one stop to go to a coffee shop.

A tram of the Hakodate tram system at a stop

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

I’ve known about strava global heat map for some time but I thought it was a paid only feature and I don’t really feel like paying for just the heat map.

BUT. I decided to check it out today. And even not logged in it’s enough detail for me to make general route decisions!

For instance, the lines on the Hakodate area heat map are basically the only roads through there anyways, so it’s just confirmation to me that people ride them.

I can’t wait to get going!

est, to random
@est@emily.news avatar

i am going to become rich and famous for inventing a way to tell the phone on the other end whether you need the person to know about your text right away or just whenever

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@est this is actually a thing in both iOS and (kinda) slack!

If the recipient has do not disturb enabled you can push a button to send them a notification anyways.

I tried to get this to be a norm at a previous job but was literally almost fired for it though. I wish slack had a better approach for conveying this than “do not disturb”. I think iMessage does this better, it says the recipient has notifications silenced.

djlink, to random
@djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

have I watched too much Alien or does this kinda looks like a facehugger?

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@djlink @TicklishHoneyBee yes

kitchen, to Japan
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

I’d heard Fukuoka was famous for their ramen. Hakata ramen. Great, I thought. Where can I get some of that?

Ramen stadium, the internet said. It’s great, they said.

it’s a MALL FOOD COURT. 🙃

But I ain’t even mad. I mean, I’m still getting ramen so things can’t be all that bad.

#Japan #Fukuoka

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@Roundcat that’s exactly the kind of ramen street I thought I was going to. Oh well I’m sure this place will be great! There’s a huge line which is not a bad sign.

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@Roundcat @IbuMichele did someone say train platform noodles? (Fukuoka Hakata platform 4)

Litzz11, to random
@Litzz11@mastodon.world avatar

LOUDER:

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@Litzz11 @TicklishHoneyBee ITYM apostrophe’s

est, to random
@est@emily.news avatar

just registered some new domains

but.computer (so i could do things like emily.but.computer for a personal website maybe)

say.computer (so I could have whatever.you.say.computer)

actually.gay (so I could have im.actually.gay or similar)

and a few others not worth mentioning

kitchen,
@kitchen@simian.rodeo avatar

@est when I was in Indianapolis my roommate and I literally got an sdsl connection so we could get 8 whole IP addresses. Well, except for the 3 taken up by network/broadcast/gateway.

But we had full rdns control.

When I was in Chicago the place I worked was also where they lived and I had an apartment out back (it was ... weird, but worked, I guess?) but anyways we had a T1 line and a WHOLE /24 with rdns.

So much fun.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • anitta
  • InstantRegret
  • mdbf
  • ngwrru68w68
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • khanakhh
  • osvaldo12
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • Durango
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • JUstTest
  • tacticalgear
  • ethstaker
  • provamag3
  • cisconetworking
  • tester
  • GTA5RPClips
  • cubers
  • everett
  • modclub
  • megavids
  • normalnudes
  • Leos
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •