The cause and solution to all my problems...

Last week, Donna and I took a day trip to the most sacred shrine in all of Japan:

The Asahi Beer Factory! (Don't call it a brewery, no one will know what you are talking about). Clearly, this was cause for celebration:

It was a great tour, and in English! And FREE! We got to do a lot of fun things, such a mingle with the local celebrities:

And see the area where the sweet sweet nectar of beer is made, from hops to the "whirlpool" vat that mixes the sweet sweet ambrosia to completion (a whirlpool full of beer...Japan does so many things right!):


Finally, our lovely guide took us to the "beer drinking" room, and proceeded to tell us drink as much we possibly could in 30 minutes. (For free!) Her exact words: "Please drink as many as you can of the Asahi beer." It brought a tear to my eye. Here she is, the purveyor of all that is holy:

She was so nice and sweet it was all I could do to oblige her (for no money!):


Our lovely guide also gave us a plate of beer snacks to eat with our FREE drinks: smoked duck and cheese. I didn't question it, I just sat back and enjoyed it:

Afterward, thoroughly content with our tour, we decided to stop next door at the official Asahi restaurant:

There we ordered some meat to grill and beers as big as our heads (it was especially great to combine the two):



The funny thing about Japan is that when you order something, its pretty much a guessing game. I sure as hell don't know how to read Kanji. So our plate of meat came and we set to grilling, not sure what animal we were eating (or what part). There were several different things on the plate, including these white square chunks of SOMETHING. "Huh," we thought to ourselves, "this looks different." But being adventerous and tipsy, we gamely put the chunks on the grill and continued cooking. After five minutes and somemore sweet sweet beer, we decided to go for it and bit in.....to SOLID FAT. Sweet Mary on a bicycle I have never spit something out in public before, but I didn't hesitate to do so here. It was beyond the pale disgusting, and although we were glad we tried it, we were a little aghast that the Japanese would consider this good eating. It wasn't until later in the week we discovered that they actually don't. The fat is supposed to be put on the grill to help keep the meat from sticking and is strictly for cooking purposes. Hm. I guess give a girl enough beer and those little details will escape her. Japan redeemded itself in my eyes with that knowledge. Another reason I love Japan? The bibs! Did you see my bib? You get bibs when you eat at places! For anyone who has ever had the misfortune to dine with me, you know what a god-send this is. I can eat and my shirt will escape unscathed! Its amazing! All in all, this was pretty much my favorite day in Japan, and Donna and I are planning another pilgrimage quite soon. Why wouldn't we?!