Bento! #265: Fried Xiao Long Bao

510 yen for 6 pieces of this 上海名物 / shanhai meibutsu / Shanghai specialty that's sold at this small store in Machida, Tokyo. And about a 15 minute wait?

Bento! #213: McDonald's Japan's Mega Mac

I've had a "Mega Mac" before, at a McDonald's in Taiwan in 2007. If a regular Big Mac has two patties and three bread/buns, that Taiwan Mega Mac had three patties and four bread/buns. This 2013 Japan version has four patties and three bread/buns! And it's yummy!

It was difficult to eat though, compared to what I can recall from my experience with the 2007 Taiwan Mega Mac. There was a Japanese to my left who also ordered a Mega Mac and he was sitting comfortably with no Mega Mac in sight, as if he had easily conquered the Mega Mac and I didn't. I felt "insufficient," but I consoled myself with the thought that it's a skinny Japanese guy who's the hotdog sandwich eating champion for a number of years. It turns out that he had asked his wife to ask for a fork for him -- ha, I won that round! Hehehe.

McDonald's also has this promo -- they serve you in 60 seconds or you get a free Big Mac. This is only for orders between 11:00 and 2:00pm. They were a little too kind, too. I thought their hourglass timer wasn't up yet when they had given me and the person in front of me a coupon each. Anyways, their "campaign" ran only until last January 14, I think.

But... Okay, McDonald's Japan. You got me at "free." I'm coming back every week. :D

By the way, for some reason, I like the Quarter Pounder more than the Big Mac, but I seem to like the Mega Mac more than the Big Mac. I think it has to do with meat-to-bread ratio. The Big Mac is too much bread for my taste.

Bento! #195: Pizza Hut for "Christmas Party"

My thanks to my friend, Okada-san, for sharing a "Christmas dinner" with me! Above is a four-in-one pizza, with seafood (shrimp and kani / crab meat), basil (bajiru) and bacon(?), bacon(?) and tomato, and maybe a 3- or 4-cheese pizza. Our dinner came with delicious chicken thighs+legs, and this "German potato" thing, which has cheese and sausages. It was a very delicious meal. I'm not sure the price, but this is over 3,000 yen. Not bad a price for Japan and for this kind of food. :9

Bento! #187: McDonald's "Chikin Tatsuta Wafuu Oroshi Baagaa"

670 yen for a regular "M" set, plus 100 yen I think to upsize to an "L" set. There is actually a chikin tatsuta (only) set for 20 yen less. Chikin tatsuta / チキン竜田 / チキンタツタ = Japanese-style fried breaded chicken fillet. Wafuu / 和風 / "our" (Japanese) style. oroshi / おろし = sweet sauce with mashed radish. baagaa / バーガー = burger. I got a "food magnet" - with a chicken nuggets design - for free with this meal. You can see from the box what the ingredients are: cabbage, the wafuu oroshi, the chicken tatsuta itself. The bun. And lemon. They didn't show it here, but the cabbage was almost drowning in mayonnaise - but not Japanese-style mayonnaise, mind you. And that mayonnaise was mixed with lemon. The taste of the lemon was quite strong here, but it wasn't bad at all.

It wasn't a very big burger, so I got me an extra regular hamburger for another 100 yen. Here's the freebie I got, by the way:

Food magnet? Yes I am. :D

Bento! #162: Hatto Wan Bakusu (Pizza Hut One Box) #3

Teri Mayo, Bulgogi, Shrimp and "Bacon," and Bacon-Potato-Corn pizza. Yep. Oh, and this is cheese stuffed crust! Yummm!

Bento! #156: BK "King's Harvest" Burger with Pumpkin!

490 yen for a regular, "M" set; plus 100 yen for an "L" set, which I got -- 40 yen more expensive than the "L" upgrade at McDonald's. And I really thought this was like a Whopper or at least a Whopper Jr.-sized burger. It's just a regular burger. With pumpkin. I also ordered BK chicken tenders (テンダーズ / tendaazu), only 200 yen for 6ピース / roku piisu / 6 pieces, but it was yet to be delivered. I chose barbecue sauce (バーベキューソース / baabekyuu soosu) for the chicken.

Bento! #144: McDonald's Teriyaki Chicken Filet-O

てりやきチキンフィレオ / Teriyaki Chikin Fireo. I just guessed the "Filet-O" part,
because they call Filet-O-Fish as Fireo Fisshu. 640 yen for a set, but for 60 yen more,
you can get an "L" set, which is exactly what I got. If you're wondering why my
Teriyaki Chicken Filet-O is not yet even open, but my fries are already half-finished,
and I seem to have some crumpled wrapper in the background, it's because I had
a ダブルチーズバーがー / daburu chiizu baagaa / double cheeseburger as appetizer.
The DCB was worth 290 yen, and it's what you expect from a DCB from any McD's.  :D

The packaging is a little bit different from the usual. I don't know if it's part
of the packaging, but their lettuce are all over the place.

The sandwich. Smelled gingery to me. I just stuffed the lettuce scattered from
all around the wrapper into the sandwich.

I felt like it had a little bit of an orange flavor. It's definitely not your typical
teriyaki taste. But overall, it was yummy. I'd have this again. There was also
Japanese mayonnaise in there. That went well with the teriyaki, surprisingly.

Bento! #133: Pizza Hut 3

Hatto Wan Bakusu (Hut One Box) again! But this time, with sausage-stuffed crust pizza. Can you guess what are the four flavours?

Bento! #127: McDonald's Big Chicken Rich Cheese Burger

ビッグチキンリチュチーズバーガー

Yummy thick slab of chicken meat marinated in salt, lemon, and pepper and fried, lots of lettuce, a sting of wasabi-like mustard, and two kinds of cheese - the usual burger cheddar and what appears to be of the whitish quickmelt type. The latter though was twice the thickness of the former. Yuuum. 760 yen for an "L" set. After eating mostly at BK and at Dom-Dom, I thought the fries were huge. This is a special limited edition sandwich at McDonald's. Which just tells me to check out McDonald's and Burger King every so often, to try out their special limited edition burgers. :D

Bento! #104: Premium Kuro Burger @BurgerKing - Finally!

Waiting for my burger and fries. The 黒バーガー (Kuro/black burger)
set meal comes with "M" sized fries and free "M" sized Coke Zero
 - which as you know comes with a label that is also mostly in black - for 790 yen.
The burger uses "bamboo charcoal" to make the bun black, plus a "black
ketchup," made from squid ink and garlic. You can probably see in the
illustration of the burger the black sauce.

My Kuro Burger arrives. I was surprised that it was just a small burger.
I thought it would be a special version of the Whopper. Writing this blog
article 4 hours later, I feel hungry already.

A first glimpse of the black bun burger.

After a few bites. There's lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise and that
"black ketchup" thing.

The whole set (fries just arrived). I actually got an "L" set, that is totally 860
yen, if I remember correctly.

The verdict? It's not something I'd eat again - because charcoal is bad for you. Even if it's from bamboo. And I really would have wanted a Whopper version of this instead. Taste-wise, I almost didn't notice the difference between this and a regular BK burger like a Whopper Jr (which is essentially this burger minus the black buns and black sauce and mayo). But, I was probably just really hungry.

Useless fact: It's Burger King's 5th anniversary in Japan this weekend.

Interesting fact: This is not the very first black burger. Early this year there was The Darth Vader Burger. But, you can say that this only validates claims made by some that black buns are the new "in" thing in the fast food industry today.

Bento BreakTime #31: "Italian Burger" at Dom-Dom

Hey look, it's a larger-than-usual-in-Japan
Coke tumbler! They call it "MEGA" size.
You add 30 yen to upgrade your "S" size
drink in your set meal to "L" size, but
for just 20 yen more, you can get the
"MEGA" size.

But hey, look! They care about you. They
don't fill the tumbler to the brim because
they know Coke is bad for you. :P
And they even put enough ice there for you
because Coke is just better ice cold, right?
Well, this is also almost always the case
too in the Philippines and maybe
in the whole of Asia so, it's not really
shocking to me.

I ordered Karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken, but this one
is not so much J-style and it's more like the BK Tenders)
again, but this time I tried the tartar sauce, which was way
better than the mayo-teriyaki sauce I got previously.

This is the Italian Burger ("Itarian Baagaa"). It was delish.
Lots of lettuce, a small patty - that I just found out they use
100% beef - and this tomato-based sauce that was just
so appealing to my palate (I like tomato-based "red"
pasta sauces more than the "white" creamy sauces).

The basic set meal was 540 yen, but together
with the karaage and MEGA upgrade, it
all cost me 880 yen. Yikes!
But it was yummy. :D

Bento BreakTime #30: Burger King Japan's Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Chicken Tenders

Before the fries came.

Midway through the sandwich (and fries).

Or "baffaro- chikin sando." Got an "L" upgrade to the sandwich "setto" (set meal), plus the 200 yen chicken tenders, this was a whopping 990 yen but overall a really good meal. I got barbecue sauce with the chicken tenders. Overall, I like the BK Tenders better than Mickey D's McNuggets. The sandwich's sauce was great, but it just felt more like a spicy garlic-cream sauce, but then that's probably what "buffalo chicken" should really be. In the sandwich, there's bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheeeeeze as well.

Bento BreakTime #28: K, F, C, fye, nuh, lee

After so many months of craving for real KFC chicken, I finally had the chance. I was on my way to a 1pm mass in Church and I was early enough to Honatsugi so I had lunch first. I ordered a "BOX" set, which comes with a drink, fries, a chicken sandwich, and a leg part. I upgraded the drink to "L" size, and this cost me a hole in my pocket: 900 yen. Note that here in rice-loving Japan, they don't have rice on the regular menu (as they do in the Philippines and probably other Asian countries). KFC, by the way, is known as "Kentakkii Furaido Chikin" or simply "Kentakkii" in Japan.

Bento BreakTime #26: McDonald's Masala Burger (Mild) and Basil Mayo Dip for McNuggets

It's actually a chicken burger with Masala curry sauce. There's cheese, too, and, I forgot what else. A little bit spicy - this is the Mild variant. They also have a Hot variant. If you like curry, you might like this.

The Basil Mayo dip isn't great; I wouldn't have one again.

With "L" coke and fries, this is all 800 yen.

Bento BreakTime #23: Tomato-sauce-taste Yakisoba

Partly opened because I was already opening it when I thought, I should take a photo! This is just around a 100 yen, I think, from the supermarket. Tomato sauce tasting yakisoba? I'd just call this spaghetti, but here in Japan, they call certain noodles soba and certain ones spaghetti, even though they look almost the same to me.

Bento Series BreakTime #20: Yayoiken Breakfast

Yayoiken is a restaurant that's just a little bit better looking than the usual Yoshinoya, Sukiya, or Matsuya. Like many places here, you pay for your order at a vending machine right by the entrance. The prices are also just a little bit more expensive by about 200 yen, maybe. We usually eat at Yayoiken because they have eat-all-you-can rice and pickled radish. But for breakfast, they have really cheap offerings like the two above.

Bento Series BreakTime #17: McDonald's Le Grand Sausage sandwich

Sorry for the blurry photo!

780 yen for an "L" set (with large fries and drink), this is a special limited edition burger sandwich at McDonald's here in Japan. They have a couple of other limited edition sandwiches which I hope to try as well soon.

How Nihongo has given birth to new languages, and the case of the missing Beef Misono, Chicken Teriyaki, and Torikatsu

Read this interesting article from Tofugu, entitled "How Japanese gives birth to new languages," via this (ad-supported) link: http://j.gs/uxx. That article reminded me of the most popular "Japanese" fast-food chain in the Philippines, Tokyo Tokyo, and their Beef Misono (and now, even Tuna Misono).

Kotoshimo Yoroshiku!

It's another new year, and I wish you all a happy new year yet again. And with the new year, comes, for the 3rd time, McDonald's Japan's "Big America" burgers!

I certainly didn't get enough of 2011's Big America 2 campaign; I was only able to try the Idaho (with a hash brown patty! yum!) and the Miami (with tortilla chips and taco-seasoned beef! yummmm!) burgers. I wasn't able to try the Manhattan and the Texas 2 burgers.

This time, McDonald's Japan will feature the Grand Canyon, the Las Vegas, the Broadway, and the Beverly Hills burgers. Naming-wise, it's a departure from the years past where only state or city names were used. But, I hope this time they won't disappoint.

As of the time of this writing, the Grand Canyon burger is said to be now available. It is said to give you a 700-calorie punch. That's on top of the calories from the fries and Coke you'll order with it, although of course, please remember that a large Coke in Japan is just a small/regular size in the US. I'm on my way to get one now. Well, I'll tell you all about it when I survive it.

From http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/277300/20120105/big-america-burger-2012-mcdonald-s-timeline.htm,

The Las Vegas Burger will be released at the end of January, followed by the Broadway Burger in mid-February and the Beverly Hills Burger in early March.

For photos, visit http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/beef/bigamerica/index.html. Hmmm. I think I'll like last year's line up better. Let's see.

International Sunday

Last night, I slept again from 5pm to around 10pm.  I had my brunch of katsu-kari (curry with deep-fried pork cutlet or "tonkatsu") and some Japanese bento meal at ~3:10pm already.  Then I slept from 5pm to around 10pm.  I had a 6" "instant" pizza, and ice cream for dinner.  I slept at around 4am already, I think.  I woke up at around 12noon, but as expected I was a little too tired.  But surprisingly, I didn't have any real muscle or heel pain, not like just right after the climb.

Anyways, I was too tired even to prepare or buy lunch.  I just edited my videos from the Fuji trip and then whoah, it was 4:30pm already.  I had to go to the 5pm mass at the Atsugi Catholic Church.

I just found out that the videos on Multiply, where I have my Mt Fuji videos hosted, play only up to the 10:00 minute mark.  Yikes!  If you can find a way, download the whole video to your computer and watch it offline.  Alternatively, if you have a Facebook account, and I'm your friend there, you can watch it from these links:

Part 1. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463002935927
Part 2. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463007370927

I took the 4:50pm bus and made it in time for I think the Glory song - I wasn't sure because it was in a foreign language.  This 5pm mass is actually a special International Mass, in celebration of the feast of the Assumption today, the 15th of August.  Very interesting mass.  The 1st reading was in Portuguese, the Responsorial Psalm in Japanese, the 2nd reading in Spanish, the Gospel in English, and the homily in both English and Japanese.  The prayers of the faithful were in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Japanese, in that order.  The Our Father was in English.  The recessional song ("Santa Maria del Camino") was in Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Japanese.

Then after the mass, there was a little party.  There was my lunch!  God making lambing.  I was looking forward to this as well as this was a chance to meet some fellow Pinoys.  I approached one guy who was apparently with a rather large group of 20-something fellow Pinoys.  My opener was "Pinoy kayo?"  He said yes but he and his friends were too shy, the only thing I got out of him was that they are not from Atsugi itself, that they were all here on training for 1 year, but they did not arrive here all at the same time.  And then just like that, he said he had to go.  Okay.  On to my next Pinoy.  I approached a more mature group and then proceeded with my opener question to the lone man amongst the otherwise group of women.  He was a little more accommodating and was encouraging me to dig into the food before it all runs out.  I guess the difference between this group and the first group I approached was that the former is composed of people who are here or have been here for a long time (say 2 years or more).  I guess I belonged more to this group than the first.  Apparently, not many Filipino going to church here in Atsugi are from Atsugi!  Yikes, I wanna meet Pinoy Atsugi-ites!  Anyways, it's all good.  Finally I met the choir lead singer/organist, Rinna, and then she introduced me to a slightly younger group of 2-year or longer residents.  I also met and interacted with Nina, Mickey, and another lady.  Mickey is a 20-something student who graduated from Don Bosco Manda and is here with a Monbusho (Japanese ministry of education, etc) scholarship but haven't found a school yet so he's currently an English teacher; he's been here for 2 years.  As usual, these guys aren't from Atsugi!

Anyways, it was fun meeting them and I hope to see them again next time.  I just confirmed that there is indeed an English mass here in Atsugi also on the 1st Sunday of each month!  That is great news.

At the party, in addition to the sushi, pasta, fruits, and sausages, I had lechon manok, kutsinta, biko, and sopas.  Yummy, Filipino food!  I don't really like sopas, but serve me sopas here (once in a while) in Japan, and I can finish thehole batch you cooked.  I most especially loved the lechon manok.   Yum-to-the-nth-power-mee.  It was a pretty good lunch. :-D

I took off at around 7pm and went to KFC to buy my dinner for the next two days (6-piece chicken and "emu-saizu koru-suro" or M-size cole slaw).  I also passed by the convenience store to buy milk and juice.  Then back home.  I ate my dinner at around 9pm already.