Dudes In Asia Podcast

by H8R Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays in the entire year. What's not to love about sitting down with friends and family to break bread and enjoy the fruits of your labor? Since I've come to Japan, I've had one Thanksgiving dinner that was pretty good, but it didn't really deliver on what I was used to. There was another time when a bunch of us went to a local Taiwanese restaurant. It satisfied in terms of meeting up with great people to share a meal and stuff our faces, but it didn't have all of the nostalgic foods I had been missing. When I thought about it, the last really, really good Thanksgiving dinner I ate was one that I cooked in 2013. My mood was similar to my boy Noogie's so this was the first year I decided to go out and have a proper Thanksgiving with some friends. Make sure you check out our Thanksgiving episode of Dudes In Asia! 1. Choose your destination Living in Mie, Japan, my options for good, authentic...

by H8R Japan has been the place I've called home for over four years now. If I didn't like the country, I wouldn't have stayed here this long. On the other hand, there are some things about Japan that really "grind my gears." When it comes to choosing a country (or any place) to live in, you're always choosing what kind of problems you're willing to deal with. No place is perfect, but there are pros and cons depending on your lifestyle. Japan is a very safe country and the people are (usually) very friendly. After a few episodes, some of our listeners really wanted to know what I didn't like about living here. With this in mind, here are 7 things in Japan that PISS ME OFF that NO ONE will tell you about! If you haven't checked out our latest episode, you can listen to it here! 1. Guilty by gaijin association Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great expats living in Japan. Then, there are the not so ...

The Dudes vent about what grinds their gears in Asia.

by Noogie Thanksgiving has just arrived and for the first time since I’ve been here I felt like celebrating the holiday. To me, celebrating means getting my grub on with the traditional Thanksgiving food. Luckily… there was a lovely cafe nearby that was serving Thanksgiving dinner all month long. L'Usine served a fantastic roasted turkey with gravy, roasted sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, steamed broccoli, and of course some cranberry sauce. Absolutely delicious!  Thanks L’Usine for some awesome Thanksgiving grub! After taking a moment to reflect on my Thanksgiving experiences from back home, I thought it would be nice to share Thanksgiving with some people in Vietnam who have no idea what it’s all about. To help my coworkers understand the American holiday of Thanksgiving, I decided to cook some Thanksgiving dishes for them to enjoy at the office.  Understanding that the food may be too bland and different for the local’s taste buds, I made enough for ever...

by H8R In our eighth episode, we talked about some of our favorite dishes and restaurants in Japan and Vietnam. We also talked about some of our least favorite. Here's some info so you can see what we were talking about. H8R's Favorite Dish In Japan - Tonteki Tonteki set meal with sake Tonteki is a magical pork chop bestowed upon mankind by the benevolent gods of the culinary cosmos. All joking aside, it is pretty damn good. If you didn't get a chance to check out the episode, tonteki is Yokkaichi's famous dish. It's a pork chop that's cooked in a wok with pork fat, garlic, and other spices. The supplier is a mystery. The cut they use is a mystery. The flavor is delicious! There are lots of different places to get tonteki in Yokkaichi, but one reigns supreme. That title has to go to Matsumoto-no Rai Rai Ken ( まつもとの来来憲). The set meal includes the main dish, cabbage, rice, pork soup, and pickles. You can also get free refil...

The Dudes talk about Thanksgiving in Asia and food.

by H8R One part of learning about another culture is getting in on the food culture. When people think about learning culture through food, I'm sure most of you have images of the late Anthony Bourdain touring hidden back-alleys and drinking beer or famous chefs visiting Michelin-starred restaurants. Don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of back-alley gourmet experiences and fine dining meals, but, for me, one way to learn about Japanese culture is to experience the types of food that Japanese students (and some teachers) eat every day. Although this wasn't my original goal in for signing up for school lunch (it turns out I was just really bad at remembering to bring a lunch from home), it has definitely opened me up to different types of cuisine (and made my life easier!). What's in the box (lunch)? via tenor The delivery school lunch in my town includes a small box with the main dish and a few sides. It usually also comes with another, smalle...