Thoughts and experiences from this simple creature, called Chris. How well do you know him? Do you even care? Probably less so, after reading this:

Wednesday, October 31

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Found this in a recycle store near my home.
Somehow, I don't think this is the noise it is supposed to make:

Thursday, October 18

Showdown, at the KURO Corral:

Yes, those three BIG BAD BLACK BOYS are at it again.
Tonight, I decided to have a showdown between three of the biggest, baddest, bestest boys in town.
The three I chose for tonight are probably (no, not Carlsberg again) among the most famous and finest of their kind in the world, ladies and gentlemen - the world.

No, I'm not talking about Big Jim Slade:


I'm talking about the lovely, wholesome smooth yet strong stouts and right from the off, you can probably guess one of the three.

The second comes from the good old US-of-f**kin-A and the last one from way back home (ish).

Without further ado, here are the three big, bad, black, boy beers!


Ooh! - don't they look:
  • BIG?
  • BLACK?
  • BAD?
  • BEERish?
  • like the BOYZ?
Well, this boy is gonna put them to the test.

THREE BEERS ENTER, ONE BEER LEAVE
(strictly, all beers enter {my stomach} and none actually physically leaves, as such.
Rather, one leaves with the mark of champion of the big bad black boyz of beer!)

We have (left to right):
England's Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, America's rogue Breweries' Shakespeare Stout and finally, good old Guiness.

__________________________________

Challenger 1:

Guinness
Guinness, from sweet, fair Ireland (land of the little men in pointy hats who scream at the kids who knick their lucky charms and here I go again, off one one o'me tangents...)

Lovely drink. You can find this anywhere in the world. First thoughts upon imbibing:
Cream. Malted chocolate. Goodness. Silky smooth. Easy to drink. Cold. Sweet.
5% but lacks bite and depth of flavor. Feels a little mass produced. This is a beer you can drink fast and then drink some more. Also as it's quite thick and heavy, you can't easily drink more than 10pints before you feel bloated - a very good safety measure.
Feel if it had a little more alcoholic depth of taste, it would be a much finer beer. Little less cream and a little more depth would improve this a lot.
Still, great easy drinking session beer.
6.5/10.
I'm sorry, I know it is supposed to be poured slowly, I just can't drink it slowly. Slight blasphemy, perhaps. But if it was stronger tasting and demanded a little more patience, then yes. But this bitch doesn't say nuffin when I open wide and force her down.
My, my, that was some strong language. Apologies.
Here's what Beeradvocate says about it. A very strong 83%.
Next!

_____________________________

Challenger 2:

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout:
This baby was given to lactating mothers. Oatmeal stout was regarded as a very nutritional food. I'm not arguing.
I'll take that excuse.
I trust those lactating mothers.
They know what they're doing. In fact, I hear a rumour that the Apollo space program was a success only after NASA relented and sacked it's entire team of asrtophycisists and aerospace engineers and brought in a team of beer swilling lactating mothers. That sorted things out and got those men on the moon (allegedly).
Oats are in the same family as barley, and a small addition gives a lot of flavor. Popular in the late 1800's, the last oatmeal stout was brewed before the First World War until Mr. 'brew-it-again' Samuel Smith reintroduced this style in 1980.


First impressions:
Dark.
Syrup.
Treacle.
Alcohol.
Sweet.
Bitter.
Malty.
Roast, roast, roast.

Nice.
This is a beer I will not swallow, like the guiness. No, I drink this one. Slowly.
Good. A beer I can sit back and enjoy. I reckon those lactating mothers knew what they were doing.
"Forget the breast, woman (what am I saying?!), just pass me that bottle - no! No, not the milk! Ye gads! No, the other one, the stout...mmm..."

Head retention is very short.
Tastes good but a little too like a burnt caramel finish. Little too roasted?
Still, a very nice beer but not one to drink with friends, when you're trying to get in as many as the buds or heinekens your mates are slugging back because you're doing rounds. This demands your complete attention. It's quite a tempremental little sucker.
Flavorsome. Not really creamy. Very different to the guinness in those respects.
Yes.
7/10
Here's what Beeradvocate says about it. Gives it a mighty 90%.
_____________________________

Finally, we have our last contender for the title:

Challenger 3:

Rogue Brewery's Shakespeare Stout.

My, my. This is about as close to perfection in a stout as I have some across.
In fact, whenever I journey to Popeye's beer bar in Tokyo, I always order this as my last beer.
Gorgeous!
From Oregon State, Rogue is one of many excellent small breweries there, that produce amazing varieties of outstanding beers.
Lovely. Sublime. It's been 5 minutes and there's stil a nice faint hint of head on the top.
I've fallen asleep with a rogue bottle at my side and woken up the next day with it smelling and looking just as fresh as when I'd opened it! - of course, I drank it. On all four occasions.
Both the smell and taste are just intense. A multitude of flavors presents itself. Highly roasted malts. Licourice hints and caramels. Bitterness. Chocolate, but bitter chocalate. A slightly astringent sweetness that is not unpleasant at all.
Very, very nice.
Again, this beer demands that it be experienced, not quaffed.
A very good beer.
Coincidentally, this is one of the only beers in barley wine form (extra strength - 11-14% alc or more) that I can tolerate.
I love this beer.
8.5/10.
My favourite stout.

Here's what Beeradvocate says. 91% Blimey!

_______________________

We have ourselves a WINNER!!!!


YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

It's the biggest, baddest, blackest, boyest(?) beer in town!!!!!!

"Shakespeare! oh, Shakespeare!" Deny thy complex undertones and refuse thy stout and I shall forever be on the wagon!"


__________________________________________________________

"'cor blimey, guvnor!!!" - a smashing night of booze!!

First up was a nice little Oktoberfest in my kitchen. Spaaten Oktoberfest.
Approx 6% alcohol.
This baby is not quite as smooth as my favourite Spaaten, the Helles, but also not quite the punch of the premium bock.
Somwhere in between and so I give it a 6.5/10.
Nice beer.

Next was a Hitachino Nest Classic Ale &*!!*#$% beer. (I couldn't quite read the Japanese).
Seemed to be some sort of English ale, with Kent golding and Challenger hops.
Cask conditioned, I think this is one of a selection of premium beers brought out by Hitachino Nest, in Japan.
Nice!
forgot about it in my freezer but as it warmed, it got better.
I give it a 7/10.
not bad for Hitachino, whom I don't really rate that much.

Next is a British beer..Samuel Smith's Organic Ale.
Although not exactly orgasmic, it certainly is organic (says so, on the bottle).
Not bad, but tastes bland and nothing special. Almost Eastern European lager/ale taste. Weird.
Low carbonation. 6/10

And then I fell asleep.

Wednesday, October 10

Testing out 2 kinds of Japanese/Chinese pot

I recently went camping for the first time in Japan.
I took the opportunity to test out this Japanese/Chinese pot whilst out in the mountains.
It worked pretty well, but not as fast as I'd hoped.

So, I decided to look for a better kind of pot, closer to home.

I found this different kind of pot about one station from where I live. It was the same price as my original pot. At first glance it looks pretty similar.
Same price, same composition.
Although this was clearly much more pot and therefore better value, assuming it worked as well.
I decided to compare the 2 kinds of pot to each other to see which one worked best.

It was a pot-off!

First, I needed to set up a controlled (hah!) environment, in which to perform my experiments.

I decided to use my balcony (rather like my less succesful home barbecue testing experiment - the flames shot up around 3 feet and almost set my apartment complex on fire - oops).

I also used a wind sheild I adapted from an aluminium cooking shield I purchased for 100yen from Daiso (the 100yen shop).

For heat, I used my sweet awesome tiny little camping gas heater. Attached to this was a huge mother of a gas cannister (hey, it was the only one they had at the camping site).

Right, I was ready for the testing!

I needed to be able to use the same amounts of materials as I tested out each pot. To do this, I used my awesome sweet Wales mug!
This meant that I used exactlly-ish the same amount of water with each pot.
(Well, what did you think I meant by pot test?)

Next, the contenders!!!

In the lllllllllleft corner: the newcomer, the larger and more complete pot as it comes with a matching lid! The new big boy!
In the rrrrrright corner, the contending champion. The small but deep pot with sawn off handle. This baby is street smart, ladies and gentlemen! Also tonight we have a special combination tag team partnership! Yes, tonight our champion is joined by a small plastic plate! This plate shall serve as a lid, enabling the heat to be trapped. I give you, the champ!

First up was the contender:
I poured one 'Welsh mug' full of water into the pan and placed the pan on the flame.

I took a photo of the start of the heating process (I used the time stamps from these photos to give me the estimated boiling times of the different pans of water).

When I thought the water was boiling, I took off the lid to check:
It appeared to be boiling, so I turned off the heat and then used the water to make myself a lovely mug of hot tomato soup!

The time taken for the water to boil was estimated to be around
2minutes and 50seconds.
_______________

Next up was the contender:
You can see that the small plastic plate is slightly too big for the pan.
I mistook this 100yen Daiso pan for another 100yen Daiso pan near my home. The other pan I used to select this plastic plate fitted almost perfectly.
When I got home, I realised the pan I already had was different from the one I used to slect the cheap plastic plate. Bugger.
Nebver mind. I bought the plate now so I decided ot carry on with my experiment.
The winner of the experiment will be crowned the new camping water heating champion and will be taken with me on camping trips in the future. There was a lot at stake for these little pots.

You can also see the little 'customization job' I performed on my 100yen Daiso pan.
Using a 100yen Daiso hacksaw, I sawed off half the handle (thus saving space in my bag and ensuring that I burned my fingers each time I picked up the hot pot). Sweet!

Not long later, the water began to boil.
Here's the photo I took of the approximate time it began to boil:

The time taken for the water to boil was estimated to be around
3minutes and 20seconds.
(sigh)

Still, I used the hot water to make myself a lovely mug of pumpkin soup!

___________________________________


"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!!!!


The new, undisputed champion of the cheap camping equipment - water heating category...

...the big cheap Daiso 100 pan and matching lid - also 100yen!!!!!"


I tried to keep the flame at a constant and similar size for both the pans. I cannot guarantee the total accuracy of the results but I reckon they are more or less indicative of the better pan for heating water.
The big pan heats faster as it has a larger surface area for the water to spread out and so the heat from the gas burner can 'get to' the water faster and rely less on convection currents being set up in the deeper water of the smaller pan. Also, the surface area is larger on the larger pan (what a suprise) and this means that I can turn up the flame and not worry about it shooting up the sides of the small pan.
The big pan is considerably wider than the small one. The smaller one is deeper.
Using water from the tap and a measuring jug, I found the volumes of the two pans were only about 150ml different! The larger one holded just over 950ml and the smaller one an admirable 800ml.
The smaller one seems a lot smaller but it is quite a lot deeper, or taller.
I have to take into account the overall size of the pan, as it has to fit in my backpack, with all the other crap (tent, sleeping bag, supplies, clothes, etc).


Even considering this, I think I shall take the new, big pan with me, next time I visit those cold and lonely mountains.

I'm thinking of going to the forest near the foot of Mt.Fuji (the one where everyone goes to kill themselves). It's supposed to be haunted.

Should be fun.


More to come tonight (including my amazing pot test):

I'm in the process of creating posts about my recent camping trip out near Mt.Fuji, another visit to Fujisakura kogen brewery, my return to Yokohama Oktoberfest, my adventures on Sat night, my trip climbing Mt.Fuji (long time ago), beer, beer and more beer, etc.

Also, as I'm typing these, I'm testing out different kinds of pot that I bought on the cheap, here in Japan.
The frist pot I tried out was recently purchased near to my home. It worked fast!
Let's see how the other pot does, later on - after I finish my cup of tomato soup.

Check this blog out soon!

Thursday, October 4

Oktoberfest in Akarenga, yokohama 2007... ...baaaaAABY!!


Once again, this intrepid man/veritable beast of a beer quaffer (that's not a dirty word) ventured far and wide in search of good times with alcohol. He could have stayed at home and had some good times with himself, but he's worried about his long term eyesight and he's running out of interesting positions (even tried shadow puppet combinations - "Oh, look, the puppy dog is fighting with the deadly, enormous anaconda! He's got that big snake round its throat. Go little doggie, Go!".
So, lo, doth he venture far and wide and hence came upon such a savage gathering of drunkards and wenches as had never been seen in that place since the last Oktoberfest, a good 12 months ago.

Was it as good as last years festival?

Read on.


First thing I noticed was that the organisers had erected an enormous gigantic 70cm perimeter fence around the festival area. Swines!
There was also the occasional 'rentacop' patrolling the perimeter fencing. Not quite up to Soviet gulag or Nazi concentration camp standards of security, but none-the-less intended to discourage would be the quick 'escapee-returnees'. By that, I mean the people who realise that they can dissapear and reappear soon after with half price bottles of the exact beer they serve in the festival. The blaggards!


I paid my 200yen, like a good little schnitzel (pausing only to allow the hottest girl in the whole freaking tent to pass by - Japanese lady in a German outfit. Yowza. Very 'revealing'. Of course, I screwed up a chance to say hi. Think she may have noticed me for the briefest of moments {as you would briefly notice the smallest of bugs that was squished on the heel of your shoe, just before wiping it off}) and entered the grounds.

Personally, I find the introduction of this new measure to restrict movement quite insulting.
  • Firstly, it assumes that everyone is a cheap b*st*rd who will try to sneak out at every opportunity, buy identical booze at half price and bring it in, thus simultaneously saving money themselves and depriving the organisers of money.
  • Secondly, it means I cannot sneak out at every opportunity, buy identical booze at half price and bring it in, thus simultaneoulsy saving money myself and depriving the organisers of money.
Swines.

Okay, now I'm in, how was the beer? How was the atmosphere?
Well, although not electric, it was still more or less at a 'partyable' standard.
The usual beers were there.
German beers were represented by the ever available Erdinger/Bitburger combo as well as the much better Franziskaner/Spaaten from Munich.
Japanese microbrews were represented by the excellent Fujisakura Kogen (Kawaguchiko - they make a good, fruity weissen and a nice smoked beer, too). SangtGallen Brewery (sometimes ok) and Yokohama beer (best value all-you-can-drink in town!).
Japanese beer monopolies Kirin And Sapporro were also present, featuring Kirin's new Stout (is this really a stout? Tastes more like a dunkel) and an Oktoberfest beer.



Kirin had produced a special 'Kirin Octoberfest' beer for this festival. I treid it and at 600yen for a 500ml stein, it represented probably the best value for a lager in the festival.

How did it taste?
I was expecting bland tasteless crap that warranted the low price but I was rewarded by a dry, hoppy number. It suprised me.
If you like the very drinkable Kirin Heartland (also available on tap for 500ml for 600yen!), then I think you will appreciate this brew. Quite nice, though not sure if it's the kind of beer to go with this festival. More a Czech bohemian number, perhaps?

One of my favourite beers in the whole world is Spaten Munich Helles. Smooth, malty, flavoursome. At 1000yen a glass, it is, believe it or not, the cheapest beer on offer from the Franziskaner chain (brought to the festival by the boys at Zato Trading - that German Farm Grill in Shibuya used to be a great place to sit back and really drink some great German beer. Now, it's a pricey wannabe restaurant that charges 500yen or more just to sit down. If all you're after is a beer or two, it just isn't worth it any more. Shame.). I seem to remember that last year, all the beers were about 1000yen. This year, the Spaaten is 1000yen but the Franziskaner is 1500, whilst the Optimator is 1300 and the Sapten Oktoberfest a hefty 1500 also. I had a spaten (don't forget the 1000yen deposit for glasses!).
It was a lovely (served with the fake 'paid for' enthusiasm of the overworked hired German barstaff - felt like a kind of 'beer Disneyland'. The idea of real German beer served by real Germans seemed to reinforce my idea that most things over here rely heavily on porduct image, rather than product quality or functionality.) beer but served wiht a little too much head for my liking (but hey, this is Japan - they just love giving head) the glass was warm, so the beer warmed faster than I would have liked. This is a little embarrassing to admit, as this means that I couldn't drink the beer fast enough. I could have drunk it that fast, but at 1000yen a glass, I was trying to get some value time in my drinking. Spaten Helles is a lovely beer. Nice thirst quencher.

I had a Franziskaner Hefeweissen later one. Also very good but 1500 yen. Pricy, crazy price for a beer. You can get the bottles for just over 500yen in the shops.

Here is a Fujisakura Kogen Weissen.Very nice beer. Lighter than the Franziskaner and the Erdingers but fruity and slightly sweet. This baby has a wonderful aroma. Possibly my favourite Japanese made weissen. At around 800yen or so for a glass, it's much better value than the German draft beers. Also, I think the deposit is less than 1000yen. Nice glasses (they use the Erdinger Weiss glasses. Beautfiul but so easy to break, so be careful!).

I had a Spaten optimator. 1300yen. At 7.2% alcohol, it's the strongest beer there. Lovely brew.Malty, smooth, silky. You can taste the alcohol but it goes down nice and slowly. It makes you want to sit down, relax, and watch the world go by as you sip away in a blissful dream state of your own slow, steady decomposition.

Click here for a lovely list of beer available at Oktoberfest (so if you wanna be a cheap b*st*rd, bring these bottles in you bag - I'm not recommending this and will not say wether I WILL or will not be doing this myself - teehee!)

I didn't bother drinking an Erdinger or Bitburger or Kostrizer. not my favourite beers and also too expensive at this overpriced beerfest. Seems the main idea of this festival is not the consumption and enjoyment of beer but rather the making of maximum profit. Shame.
Still, one can still enjoy oneself (sans shadow hand puppet displays).

So, how about the atmosphere?

Not bad. The Japanese are always friendly and at International festivals, they are very welcoming to foreigners.
Somehow they assume Germans and any other foreigner are more or less one and the same so they come up to you and shout "prost!". It's not annoying in the least. It means you can milk the 'German at a German beer festival' effect and get talking to that really hot Japanese woman in the german 'itght' outift, perhaps. You can very easily make 50 or so friends for the evening. I was only hoping to make TWO friends. Unfortunately, the lady they belonged to was probably not interested.

Here are some videos I made.
Not very good and apologies for the commentary.
a quick guide to the beer booths:


Miss Oktoberfest, parading her boyfriends for all to see:


They're not Thomas&Tony, but they have style (in a purely 'German' way):


(Luckily, they did turn out to be the horniest men I met that night. Phew!)

p.s. You know you want to see them again - Here they are, the one/two, the original (playing coversongs), it's...


...THOMAS&TONY!!!!

Awesome.

Toilet-wise, it seems they are trying to save money again.
A mere 4 or so toilets for men and the same for women.
Not enough, when things get into 'full flow', as it were.
I have a feeling that come the final weekend, these places will see the most 'business'.
Do not do what I did and go to the toilet only when the moment came when you could fight the feeling no longer. Go to the toilet as soon as you have the inkling you are going to need it. Bring your beer. You may be waiting for some time. I tended to bide the time playing my latest new gameshow. 'Guess the door?'

p.s. the manual flush pedal is down near your feet. I didn't see any signs and it's not obvious, especially when you're plastered. I missed it for the first 2 times I used the toilets and from the smells, I'm pretty sure everyone else did, too.
Phew!!!!


"See you at the Oktoberfest!"


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