Visited the Ushiku Daibutsu in Ibaraki, the fifth largest statue in the world and the largest bronze Buddha. Over 100m tall without pedestal (about 2.5x the Statue of Liberty). Really amazing and powerful. An elevator inside takes you up about 85 meters to the window slats you can see in the chest.

It's very hard to beat a Chimay Blue, especially when paired with grilled lamb. #beer

Finally have a bookshelf near the kitchen for some cookbooks! Favorites here are López-Alt's Food Lab, Bourdain's Appetites, T-Pain's Can I Mix You a Drink?, Boba Guys' The Boba Book, Coldicott's Tokyo Cocktails, Ripert's Avec Eric, and Yamaguchi's Roy's Feasts from Hawaii. #food #books

9 novels I still found myself thinking or talking about in 2024.

Merry Christmas Eve from Tokyo! Enjoying a 2011 Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws barley wine style ale, served in an Avery Brewing glass. Cheers!

Stage one of the Dutch oven homemade BBQ pulled pork. #staub

If you're going to eat delicious and spicy fried chicken, make sure it's also fascinating. #japan #konbini #コンビニ

Baked muffins with walnuts and dates from California (Shields in Indio specifically) and powders of cinnamon and clove. #baking #winter

Enjoying Mikkeller Belgium's "A Red & White Christmas" holiday Ale with curaçao peel and coriander seed. Beer and glass bought in Tokyo, coaster brought from the taproom in San Francisco. #beer #ale

Godzilla turns 70 this year. Happy Birthday, ghost of our nuclear energy / god complex! Spotted in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The before and after of my spicy miso pork ramen lunch from my favorite local shop. Comes out to $6.60 (¥1000), and we don't have tips in Japan because that whole system is wack and exploitative. #food #ramen #japan #tokyo

When my karate sensei asks me if my body is getting sore yet in my first week of training...

One of my December traditions. Brasserie d'Achouffe, "N'ice Chouffe," Belgian Strong Dark Ale, 10% ABV. I give it a 4.09/5.0 on BeerAdvocate. A smooth yet strong beer with thyme and Curaçao flavors.

In my Eating Cultures class this year, I used J Strautman's TTRPG Insatiable Cravings. For 4 sessions, students created and played in worlds and characters. We concluded on Halloween, and here I am giving vampire David from The Lost Boys vibes as I coach them along. I love teaching and I love games.

I started learning Kyokushin karate recently. We had a great end of the year celebration at a local Chinese restaurant. Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive; I'm the only white belt here among tons of black or near-black belts (a few literal world champions here from my dojo). 押忍！宜しくお願いします！