Tuna Snacks!

Tuna Snacks!

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Tuna Snacks are Scoobie snacks for me. A Tuna snack is a triangular snack is composed of a triangular wedge of sticky (sushi-style) rice with some sort of filling wrapped in seaweed paper. After fooling around with different varieties in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:place></st1:country-region> I have settled on the simple Tuna and Mayo. Before I got reading Korean down pat occasionally I would end up with Tuna and spicy Kimchee Tuna snack back in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Those are not so good.

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I am writing this note from the Lobby of my business Hotel in the neighborhood of Kanda station, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city>. Yes <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city>! 15 years after I started studying Japanese I have finally visited.

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I was planning on writing this note from the local Lotteria fast-food place. Lotteria is a Korean chain that was inspired by McDonalds menu, color-scheme and indeed business model and is owned by the giant Lotte corporation. Lotteria was the first to introduce a Shrimp Burger! (I like those too.), which McDonalds was forced to add to the menu. Good to see that Lotteria gave something back. I wanted to eat a Shrimp Burger in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Japan</st1:place></st1:country-region> from a Korean fastfood company just for the twist. But the Tuna Snack at the local FamilyMart was just too damn tasty. I would have to say it is the best Tuna Snack I have sampled. And I believe I am probably the world’s expert on Tuna Snacks. I have eaten a good number of them from four countries (<st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Korea</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region>, and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>!) and from all the possible fast food companies. However the Korean LG25 fast-food chain sells a new “gold” quality Tuna Snack that is indeed very competitive with the Japanese Family Mart Tuna Snack (which incidentally is quite distinct in packaging, preparation and taste from the Family Mart of Korea). I would have to say that the Korean custom of salting the Tuna snack’s Seaweed wrapping (Kim) is what gives it an edgy taste that the Japanese, Taiwanese and American Tuna Snacks are missing.

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So I started with just a single Tuna snack, and I walked towards Lotteria, but then I returned and consumed another from Family Mart and then finally went back in to get a Coke to wash it down. The Coke’s in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Japan</st1:place></st1:country-region> open with a nearly frightful explosion of gas that puts a momentary smile on my face – you should try it!

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I am waiting for Kiyoshi-san the President of the Independent Game Developer’s Association – <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city>. Indeed, I am here on this trip as he invited to speak at the IGDA Winter conference. I was happy to have a business reason to come to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Japan</st1:place></st1:country-region> and it is a great trip in progress, let me tell you more:

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The Incheon <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">airport</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Seoul</st1:placename></st1:place> I think is distinctly superior to Narita in terms of leading edge modernity, but Narita is close. LAX is positively third-world in comparison to these two airports. These two airports are the first impressions of world travelers to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region>; and as such it is important to both countries to get that impression right the first time.

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Incheon has these very comfortable, large tour buses they call Limosene buses that will take to and from the airport to almost every useful destination in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seoul</st1:city></st1:place> and in the suburbs (including about 6 blocks from my house) for about $10. The Narita airport has the kick-ass Narita express train however that will take you through immaculately kept farm fields with gorgeous houses that are straight out of a Ghibli animated film such as Totoro. (I found out later over dinner with Hayashi-san (former executive of Activision-Japan, but now with her own publishing company in California) that the reason the farmers are able to have such manicured and perfect looking fields and homes is due to the largass of receiving very generous subsidies from the government. Another Japanese overhearing agreed and chipped in that he knows many farmers in his family’s home town that drive Mercedes). This train costs about $30. I would have to say that the train ride is not really worth $20 extra.

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The subway and train system of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city> is – is – there are not words strong enough to describe the intense complexity of the Subway system. It is crazy! There are some subways stations so large and so sprawling such as Shinjuku that they have auxillary stations such as south Shinjuku and west Shinjuku that serve essentially the same area, but due to the population density they are able to support these mega-subway complexes. The stations themselves are a warren of tunnels and signs that are apparently challenging to the Tokyoites as I see them staring at the signs quite carefully if they are not going their usual direction. This is quite startling. In <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seoul</st1:place></st1:city>, most of the transfers are between two lines – and in a few places three lines. In <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city> and Shinkuku station I have trouble counting the number of lines. The full subway and train map of greater metropolitan <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:city> is unreadable. And I love maps and trains and subways.

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My hotel room. Nope that is not the right word. I am living in a large refridgerator box.

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On my first night here, Kiyoshi-san met up with me at my hotel

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Originally posted on LiveJournal