I went to dinner with some coworkers last night. We ordered a plate of sashimi and on the plate was a fish that had seconds before been alive and well, but who now sat on our plate skinned and carved up into sashimi. We were told not to put our finger in the fish's mouth, because it was still "alive". Low and behold the fish kept opening and closing his mouth, and would even constrict its head and tail if we touched it. Talk about fresh fish!
There's something awkward about looking at a fish who seems alive, and who's being used as a platter on which is served carefully slices of his own meat. I think to myself that I'm sure glad that's not me. But he was delicious.
Scorpions anyone? Shelley and I were walking down "snack street" in Beijing, which is a collection of booths that sell various food oddities. You can't miss the selection of grilled meats ranging from beef and lamb to, yes, scorpions. Look, I like my food with a bit of a bite to it, but THIS isn't what I had in mind...you know what I'm saying? These scorpion are skewered right before your eyes, the skewerer often being stung by the skeweree. Hungry yet? And to further entice customers, the scorpions are left on the skewer to squirm for a while. Hey, I'm all for fresh food, but this might go a bit too far for me. Don't fear, if you're not into the grilled scorpions, then how about a seahorse? Or perhaps a starfish? Or maybe you'd like some beatles or grasshoppers?
Needless to say, this was one of the more extreme things we came across in our culinary explorations. We generally found that if we put some thought into a choice for a restaurant, the entire family generally had some really great food for under $10. We were extremely gung ho about the Chinese food we were eating, but as is the case, after a while you start to get tired of eating only Chinese. But then the guilt factor sets in if you even think about wanting to eat, say, Italian food...because who comes to China to eat Italian? We got over that pretty quickly when we relied on McDonalds and granola bars to get us through some meals...a parents' best friend!
Click on the picture to see a small gallery of the stuff we saw on the snack street. Or the video below to see the squirming scorpions.
While Japan is a crowded place to live, it will only getting less and and less crowded. Japan's population is shrinking, and has been getting smaller since 2007 when births fell below deaths for the first time. If things don't change, Japan's population could halve by the end of this century...a pretty amazing event with severe economic implications.
While Japan still remains the second largest economy in the world, it is still recovering from its late 1980's economic bubble. And demographics as they are, it may continue to muddle along without a fresh injection of labor. With low birth rates, it certainly won't be home grown. Immigration is another route, but Japan is not a very immigrant friendly country. As technologically advanced as Japan is, you'd think that greater automation and perhaps even the use or robots would be the solution. But I never thought in a million years that the Japanese would turn to monkeys to help solve labor shortage. See the video below of my new favorite restaurant.
I want to go there. Who's coming with me? If anyone knows where this restaurant is, please let me know because I want to take my family there and let my son freak out over the monkey bringing him a hot towel and orange juice.
