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Japan 2024

Full bloom near my old house Temple
Very clean train
This was Being promoted
There was some shaking but nothing significant
A clear view of Mount Fuji from the hotel
Beautiful evening view from the room
One of my favorites
The only Cuban cigars we could find that week. Cubans are in short supply
My friend’s car.
Very boxxy
An Irish pub in downtown Wakayama
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Paris food

A local bistro’s idea of fish and chips
And their idea of Caesar salad
This was my hamburger with sauce all over it, very French, sauce on everything
Some wild animal
Beef tartar on the right in abundance. The portion was way too much for me but I learned it was named after the tartars who often didn’t have time or the proper cooking equipment to grill the beef. I suspect they had it raw because they had to go kill some people on a fixed schedule.
Coffee ice cream dessert. I was surprised this time all the desserts were extremely sweet, much more than I had remembered.
The menu from the restaurant in Versailles
Multicolored cauliflower
Very tasty ice cream
Another dessert
Scallops
An orange flavored dessert
The typical morning breakfast at the hotel
This is a very local and traditional cuisine restaurant. The food is not fancy but it seems it is very well known for its excellence
Our friend has a niece who works in this restaurant. It has been open only for less than a year but a few days after we ate here they received their first Michelin star
Potato skin and sauce
The central theme that night was potatoes
Dessert
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japan – wakayama and…

Wakayama is kind of a quiet town with a decreasing population like many non-major cities in Japan but I have a close college friend who lives there and so I visit from time to time to enjoy the good food and the company. This time I just flew in from Bangkok for four days and then one day in Tokyo before flying back.

We smoke Cubans in his car on the way to dinner
My first quality Ramen in five years
These dolls are placed as a seasonal celebration, a shrine near Wakayama
The front of the shrine
The gate (Torii)
The business hotel where I stayed has a very uninteresting breakfast but it’s included
On Christmas day we had a nice tiramisu at a French style restaurant
In general the food was not too much and very tasty, Japanese – French style
Cute car. Only 600 cc. It’s a shame this company lied and cheated and had to shut down until they made certain acceptable corrections
A very nice lunch
A friend’s house, very traditional
Coming into Narita you can see some solar farms for the local residents
Friends at a countryside karaoke bar (snack) before a yakuza boss walked in
Representing Thailand, Japan and Borsalino land
It was a very clear day. Yes you can see Mount Fuji
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food in the fast lane

Of course we have to start it out with pizza. This is made at Flavio’s restaurant and is a nice thing crust quattro formaggi.
On a quick trip to Japan it was just very necessary to have a lot of pickled ginger
You can guess
Just for me they made some very nice tempura
The brown food on the small dish is salted Fugu (puffer fish). The first time for me
Fatty tuna was very delicious
Finally I got to a Korean grill
This Korean ramen was labeled very spicy but there was almost no spice in it
Very rare
Half green half yellow indicates some chemicals used in growing these bananas
What do these dogs have to do with food? They are waiting for their evening handout
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Fun stuff 3

This is proof I am lazy
Right outside the bungalow
A very nice Indonesian cigar
Dancing girls at the local night market in Koh Chang
Balloon bread and various dips at my friends Turkish restaurant, AlaTurka
Another very nice Indonesian cigar
Spelling Bea?
A nice sunset on the island
Very tasty bread from Flavio’s Italian restaurant
One of the best Churchills I’ve ever had
AI idea of me as an evil villain with a cat. Watch out James Bond!
Is this what you would name your hotel?
More proof I am lazy
Move over Orlando Bloom. I have gotten younger
Pasan made a very delicious long grilled fatty pork with vegetables
A kind of Turkish pizza
One of the best cigars I have ever had and, yes, it was made in Indonesia
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Medan and Bukit Lawan-Indonesia

While in Italy I got the strangest faces when I ordered a gelato made of lemon sherbet with chocolate. Subsequently I have found this to be a little bit addicting, even in Indonesia
Why shouldn’t kids also find access to fancy motorcycles and Maserati’s?
Displayed in yogyakarta airport
translation: PALIHAN This work was made as a tribute to the area that is also the Yogyakarta airport area
International Airport (YIA), which is Palihan village. In Sanskrit, Pali or Pepali, has the meaning of advice or message. It indicates there is a
Determination that was initiated from the region. Palihan, from the beginning of the word instead, or diversion. In several hereditary stories that we can even get from the people of Kulon Progo, it is said, in a mission during the Java war, where troops from Prince Diponegoro stopped in the area. There was a strategy that was initiated at that time with an undercover action plan. So that when they continued their mission, they moved from that area already in another form (switching, disguised). A strategic action must have an order from the highest authority.
Wise command in the situation of the condition at that time.
Typical Hindu temple entrance Structure
It’s important to stand out with a gimmick
These horse carriages are everywhere in the city
An Indonesian cigar, one of the best, smoothest, lightest and enjoyable cigars I have had in a very long time
You can see the old bridge
Old Volkswagen jeeps everywhere
Leave some space on the top for me
Kids coming back home on the school bus
Never heard of this before and never tried it
More kids going home literally on the school buses
There were two of these men in the middle of the street directing traffic sometimes it odds with each other
I was impressed with the design and the seeming quality of this little car, electric of course and from China
Tempe and tofu for lunch
The road to our bungalow resort
Born recently and finding our veranda a safe place to nap
Mom went hunting and brought back “the bacon” in rat form
They are now asking mom what they should do with the rat
One of them decided to get tangled up in my sandal
Dinner has temporarily been abandoned. I think mom needs to provide more help
Coco grows wild everywhere
it wasn’t easy finding food that was not deep fried
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Borobadur-Yogyakarta-indonesia

This is the largest Buddhist temple in the world

This temple was discovered in the 1800s by the founder of the raffles hotel in Singapore. The temple was pretty much buried in volcanic debris since there are four volcanoes in the area. The theory is that people left this area because of the constant volcanic eruptions which made it unsafe

All of these carvings are telling stories so the pilgrims would walk around the building many times to study all of the stories of the enlightened one and many different ideas and traditions
The mountain in the background is in the shape of someone lying down and the story indicates it is actually the designer and builder of the temple lying on the mountain
The headless figures are the result of thieves
Inside of each one of these enclosures were figures of the Buddha
If you studied Hindu religion you will recognize these gods