Japan is a country known for many things, one of them being strange beverages. Every summer, Pepsi comes out with weird and occasionally wonderful limited time flavours. Breweries make limited time beers and a walk through any convenience store in Japan will leaving you happy and confused while looking at the overall beverage selection.
A few days ago I wandered into a Lawson convenience store here in Kobe and was shocked to see Goya Beer on the shelve. Goya or "bitter melon" in English, is an extremely bitter vegetable that I am not particularly fond of, is used to give the beer a bitter edge.
I chose not to buy the beer. if you dislike goya as much as I do, you probably would have as well.
Since I didn't buy a can, I can't tell you how it tastes. I do however have a coworker who fancies himself a "beer afficiando" and he said it "Tastes like barf!"
Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan and of course I, and many others will reap the rewards. Unfortunately I do have some work I have to do throughout the day, but will have some time to hang out with the family. I also hope to hit the road for a morning run. I haven't really been able to run much since my marathon a few weeks ago. I had a pretty serious chest cold that turned into the flu. I'm now ready to start getting serious about running again.
Yesterday we ventured into the wilds of Kobe and harvested a plastic Christmas tree. The new 150 cm tree will soon be a focal piece in our living room. We decided to spend Christmas in Japan this year. Last year we made our way to my parent's house outside of Ottawa and had a super time. It of course would be great to head to Canada again this year for the Holidays, but with a new little gaffer, we'd feel more comfortable not having to make such a long journey.
Yesterday I also ventured out for the first time with the baby carrier. My wife often takes the baby out using the carrier, but it was the first time I tried it. It was a cool experience for sure!
The other dayI bought a couple of bottles of Minoh Beer while at a specialty supermarket in Akashi. Minoh Beer is a craft beer made in Osaka. Their Stout one the WBA best Stout last year. I also have an IPA. Check out this fabulous blog about the brewery by beerjapan.com.
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