The location: A relatively new Irish pub in the vicinity of Shinagawa station.

The “Fish and Chips”: Two pieces of fish, each not much larger than an average hashbrown, with approx. 10 chips, fresh out of the microwave, and served on a fake plasticy sheet of “newspaper” that was printed in French.

The price: Close to 1000 Yen.

The verdict: Won’t be going there again unless in dire need of a pint of Guinness.

Fortunately it doesn’t taste as bad as it sounds. Just a tangy apple flavour, with no vinegary taste at all. Quite nice, actually.

I’ve been looking (on and off) for Ginger Beer since last December, after I was introduced to the Dark and Stormy during my visit home at Christmas. By chance I found this one in the small supermarket near my train station.

For a drink with a name like “Diabolo” it’s surprisingly mild – I’ve had own-brand Ginger Beers with more bite from UK supermarkets – but still, it’s way better than the Canada Dry Ginger Ale that you find everywhere here.

(Note: I haven’t tried to make Dark & Stormy with Canada Dry – just whiskey & ginger).

As an added bonus, it contains grapefruit (didn’t see that on the label until I got it home) which I suppose I can accept as a passable alternative to lime juice if it means I don’t have to get annoyed trying to find it in a shop.

I thought I’d try this beer after reading about it on Tokyo5.

It’s quite a nice beer. Good flavour, not too dry, not too bitter. The only thing that puts me off is the name. They translate “コクの時間” as “Golden Moment”, but my brain somehow takes the more direct literal approach and turns it into “Cock Time”.

“Hey guys, wanna come round to my place tonight for some cock time?”

I had my annual medical checkup at work yesterday. Some of the questions on the pre-checkup questionnaire were a bit odd.

I wonder if anyone ever answers “Yes” to any of them, and if so what happens.

Mr. OBAMA mask. Yours for the bargain basement price of only ¥2100 (reduced from ¥2310).

Found this in the local supermarket at the weekend. Even though it`s only 3,5 ABV it`s not bad. At least compared to the piss that usually passes for beer in Sweden.

It`s a bit easier without all the crowds…

A couple more pictures here.

Play.com used to be great for buying DVDs and CDs – huge range, decent prices, and free delivery to most of Europe. But recently (well, some time within the last year or so) they’ve introduced a new delivery policy and won’t deliver to Europe if you pay in GBP, or to the UK if you pay in Euros.

This wouldn’t have been a problem while I was still living in Germany, but now I’ve moved to Japan it means I can’t buy stuff on my German card and have it delivered to friends/family back home without paying in GBP and having to pay a transaction fee. And I can’t pay on my Japanese card because they don’t allow Japan as a billing address.

If they hadn’t introduced these ridiculous rules, I’d've just bought the stuff there rather than going to Amazon and finding everything that I wanted at significantly cheaper prices…

I’d seen this beer in the supermarket a few times but only this past weekend bothered to figure out ask the wife what it says on the can.

Turns out it’s a wheat beer “with yeast”. If I’d known that before I’d've grabbed one sooner.

It’s more like a Hoegaarden than a Franziskaner, but definitely one to add to the list.