I'm overdo for a food post! I hit up some nice places in Chiang Mai recently. #ArtEaterEats
Dirty Mocha from ... Google Maps has them listed as "Cutlater Cafe" but I could swear they had a Japanese sounding name. Probably rebranded without updating google. Anyhow it was a very good cup of coffee and a beautiful cafe! #ArtEaterEats
In addition to great coffee this place specializes in wagashi, traditional Japanese sweets, which go perfectly with a hot drink (really I should have just gotten an Americano or cappuccino instead of a sweet drink to go with these!)
The wagashi here is legit. It's sooooo soft. Definitely homemade that day and not prepackaged. Here is their sakura mochi made from partially mashing freshly steamed rice. Still warm. goo.gl/maps/NWMtNhGY7…
The dango here was also excellent. Dango is made with rice flour instead of pounded cooked rice. These were so soft and stretchy. Not at all hard or mealy (as old or poorly made dango tends to be). Had a great savory sweet, slightly salty flavor.
Warabi Mochi (わらび餅)
Most mochi is made from rice, but warabi mochi is made from fern starch! It has a less stretchy, more jelly-like texture. Reminded me of a super soft Turkish Delight! Here it's topped with kinako (toasted soy bean powder) and a brown sugar syrup.
OK actually I remember now. This place IS called "CULATER Cafe" as in "See You Later." The front now looks a bit different than this promo photo. They added wooden panels and a sign in kana (hence my confusion earlier) and other stuff. Great place!
Had lunch at Homeless Burger (what a name!), which immediately became my new fav burger place in Chiang Mai. Their burgers, fries & onion rings are made to order from good ingredients. And priced relatively cheap! A great value!
Homeless Burger makes some of the best fries too! They're coated in a lightly seasoned, starchy batter, making them extra crunchy, but crucially they're properly drained before serving. Not too greasy!
Homeless Burger got it's name from it's humble beginnings as a small shack with no electricity. Since then they've moved to a nicer shack (now with electricity!) hanging over a canal, tucked away in the back of a very sleepy residential neighborhood.
It's a really unique location! REALLY residential. Talking about chicken coops and old folks chilling on lawns. Very difficult to get to by car--the roads are incredibly narrow! Most customers get there by bike (lots of students from the local Uni). Totally worth the trip tho!
Homeless Burger has a real plucky, gritty charm to it. A lot of hipstery places spend tons of money to look quaint, but Homeless Burger has true DIY energy to it! They didn't have a huge budget, just used what they had on hand, but they made it work with style and grace!
If you're in Chiang Mai and hankering for a good hearty burger, I super duper recommend Homeless Burger, located at the base of Doi Suthep (the mountain with the famous temple)
Listening to this nice piece on the film "Living" and how the author, British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa film "Ikiru," an internationally beloved classic whose title means "To Live." npr.org/2023/03/06/116…
The piece drops the ball at the end tho, when the narrator says that the film "is not just a remake" and they have a Brit critic that goes "'Ikiru,' by Kurosawa, seems to be a film about Japan, 'Living,' by Ishiguro and his colleagues. seems to me a film about humanity"
Like WTF
What does that mean? Ikiru has been widely regarded as one of the "great films" internationally for decades. It's obviously very universal in its appeal. How is it that "Ikiru" being set in Japan makes it "about Japan" but "Living", being set in the UK, makes it "about humanity"?
Sometimes I think about when Hail To The Thief dropped & this one music critic called it pretentious pap saying Thom Yorke simply screams the words "PENETRATION" over and over in 2+2=5. But the actual lyrics are "we are not even PAYING ATTENTION" lol
Oh man this album rules. It brings back so many TERRIBLE MEMORIES lol. But in a good way!
I think There There is one of Radiohead's best singles. Such a rich, downbeat, groovy, anxious sound. And what a perfect message for the times. "Just cos you feel it, doesn't mean it's there." Tough pill to swallow. But sometimes you really need to hear it
It's WONDERFUL that Crayon Shin Chan is "seinen" (for men) and Fist of the North Star is "shonen" (for boys). And no, we don't need to "fix" that. It's better when the labels don't actually matter cos you can focus more on the content that way
While many in the Anglosphere argue over if it's OK to enjoy Boy's Love comics if you're not gay, My Brother's Husband was published in Monthly Action alongside Dragon Maid.
It doesn't matter if Michael B Jordan didn't know that the classic cross counter shot in manga/anime came from Ashita no Joe. What matters is that he felt that punch in his heart and passed it down the line undiluted.
Also odds are that he has intimate awareness of Ashita No Joe, but it's easier for him to mention DBZ and Naruto in interviews. Also clearly Naruto is his fav and he's being true to his heart.
April was originally conceived as an Asian woman. Laird drew her as white. Eastman probably thought of her as biracial (half white half black) like his girlfriend of the time (and future ex wife) who the character was named after. #TMNTMutantMayhem#TMNT
April O'Neil's ethnicity shifted a lot from the beginning. Early TMNT fans will recall that they also turned Baxter Stockman from Black to Caucasian for the TV show. Personally, I don't think ethnicity is core to most of the TMNT characters outside of Splinter and Shredder. #TMNT