Tag: food

by jad

Far Away (Ground Zero)

The one place we prioritized once we found a coin locker for our suitcase and sat down for lunch at the station was @nyan_nyanji, the Cat Temple on the outskirts of town. As millennials from the internet, it just felt like that had to be the one religious site of the many religious sites in Kyoto we couldn’t miss, if we could only see one. It would be more than an hour by bus and back, and it did not disappoint. I’ll post a fever dream of a Reel about it shortly. #japanonfilm #streetphotography #nikonlitetouch #35mmphotography #analogphoto #kyotogram #kyotographie x … Continue reading “Far Away (Ground Zero)” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Cringestagram in Shinjuku and Shibuya

Don’t believe Google or Instagram because the @ginzavampire cafe is, in fact, open on Mondays, and, let me tell you: 10/10, would do again. They are so committed to the bit from the moment you walk in to the moment you walk out—our server gave us the deepest bow in the whole of Japan as the elevator doors shut—that you can’t help but be swept up in the pageantry. And the food is actually good! It’s not just a bit of food coloring and some skull stencils. Another equally goofy and dead serious experience in Japan ✔️ x Bringing back … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Cringestagram in Shinjuku and Shibuya” →

by jad

Philly on Film

I am absolutely flabbergasted to see these scans in my inbox so quickly. Thank you @uniquephoto for super quick turnaround! I dropped my rolls off on my last morning in Philly (on Monday!) so that I didn’t have to deal with airport security; this is the Kodak Color Plus 200 I’d brought with me, with shots from my first morning there (on Friday). I’m posting them unedited, as scanned, in celebration of this stellar service. (Also, pssst.. dev/scanning 3 rolls is cheaper in Philly than Seattle…) I very quickly realized that one roll was not going to cut it, so … Continue reading “Philly on Film” →

by jad

Salt of the Earth

Who are the “salt of the earth”? The working class, the poor, the ordinary people who sustain the world through unrecognized labor and quiet endurance. We get this phrase from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:13, where Jesus is alluding to the high value of salt in the Judeo-Roman economy. It was so valuable that Roman soldiers were paid with it, giving us the word “salary,” from the Latin “sal” for salt. Salt is valuable because it preserves and gives flavor, so Jesus uses it as a metaphor for his disciples’ role in the world. Today, Christians take … Continue reading “Salt of the Earth” →

by jad

St. Patrick’s Day

I’ve marked a St. Patrick’s Day ritual of some shape or form for 16 years, and this is how we mark it in Seattle. “It’s just another Monday, right?” That’s how the guy at Market House Meats laughed off how busy it was when I was straining to hear my name being called out. The scene today was straight out of a movie, complete with a couple of New Yorkers trying to figure out how to order in that loud New Yorker way. There was a padre there and a cadre of cops too; a construction worker and a plumber, … Continue reading “St. Patrick’s Day” →

by jad

Doing the Puyallup (Again)

Given the good number of story posts I’ve seen, a bunch of you were at the #StateFair yesterday like us. This is probably my fourth or fifth time at the Puyallup fair, so it pretty much qualifies as a family tradition now. Christine was reflecting on how stepping onto the fair grounds is like stepping into childhood for so many, as very little changes every year. I like it. It’s goofy and fun and I’ll come again. One thing we did this year that was new for me was to watch a hypnotism show. When the hypnotist asked who here … Continue reading “Doing the Puyallup (Again)” →

by jad

Trip Like I Do—Eating Edition

Spokane, June 28: Our vacation was obviously not deep and moody all the time, despite our itinerary; a big part of traveling for us is finding fun spots to eat. Frank’s was the first of two train-themed restaurants we stumbled on during this trip, located right next to an active railway line. Here’s what their website says about this space: “During the golden days of railroading, Barney-Smith and Pullman vied for supremacy of the elegant rail car business. In 1906, Barney Smith manufactured this car as an “observation car”. It remained unsold until 1909, when it was purchased by the … Continue reading “Trip Like I Do—Eating Edition” →

by jad

Our Marmite God

There’s a sticky sandwich spread in the United Kingdom called marmite. It’s as dark and goopy as molasses but has a savory flavor that’s so strange and inscrutable that the company that produces it decided decades ago to celebrate its divisive distinctiveness with a slogan that declared: “Marmite—You Either Love It or Hate It.” Brilliant. Why pretend that your yeast extract is just like peanut butter when it’s so demonstrably not? By fully owning your bizarreness, your fans become your best evangelists and you may even generate a healthy margin of profit from the curious seeking something new (even if … Continue reading “Our Marmite God” →