Thank you so much! Japan is truly wonderful, but just like everywhere, it has its problems many of which are unique to this country. They won’t be solved because TBH, no one wants to solve them even though people admit they are problems.
The vast majority of friends I’ve made here are miles better than any I ever made back in the US. I’ll miss them more than anything. But I’ll also miss the numerous safety aspects and NO TIPPING!
If you can spend serious time here, I recommend you do and will be glad to help you if I can.
Thank you so much! I don’t think I’ll be back here to live again, but hopefully to visit.
As for Las Vegas, there’s certainly a foodie scene there, but I don’t consider myself to be a foodie. My sister told me there’s no Aldi there (they’re building one in Henderson, it seems), but at least I can go to Trader Joe’s again. It’s the store in the US I miss most.
I’ll try to post from Las Vegas when I get there. I thank you for your kind words and for reading/liking my posts.
Thank you so much! I just can’t see myself living there for a long time.
But finding work there with my total fluency in Japanese will apparently be very easy.
As much as I love tofu and Japanese food, I’m dying for an In-n-Out burger! Besides the gourmet burger places in Japan (which can be outrageously expensive!) Japan hasn’t learned to make a decent hamburger!
The best burger we had in LV was at the Mirage @BLT Burger. Burger Bar was supposed to be the shiznit, but we much preferred the one at the Mirage. I see now that BB closed down 2021, but BLT Burger is still in business.
Gourmet burgers are great! But for someone who was raised in Southern California but didn’t have an In-n-Out burger until they were in college because of parents whom weren’t into them, an In-n-Out burger scratches a special itch like no other❣️
I’m not a fan of MOS Burger. If you can find a “Freshness Burger”, they make the best chain hamburger out there. But it’s more expensive than others (but less than a gourmet burger). There’s a smallish chain called “Awajishima Burger” which is kind of in between an standard chain and a gourmet burger. If you can find one, they’re quite good.
Thank you so much! It’s never easy to restart one’s life and I should know well about that because I’ve done it a few times too many! But at 60 and doing it in a city that doesn’t agree with me will be a challenge bigger than ever!
I wasn’t alone when we moved back from the Netherlands and DH started winding down his work with a NATO project so his frequent travel gradually came to an end. I had the big surprise of a late stage breast cancer diagnosis, though, at the end of that summer. We had to adjust our dreams and expectations. I’m so lucky to have a steady, reliable life-partner. I wish wonderful things for you. Change can be good.
Former Chowhound uhockey is an endocrinologist in Las Vegas, who posts lots of reviews on his blog. His blog might help you find the quaint side or hidden gem side of Vegas and nearby cities. https://endoedibles.com/?cat=21
Though I’m sorry to hear of your diagnosis and battle with breast cancer, I’m happy to hear that you had someone there for you.
From my first move to Japan in 1984 until the time I left Shizuoka in 2023, EVERY move has been upward. But leaving Shizuoka, while necessary, has as of yet not led to anything upward…and that’s putting it mildly.
I met someone whom I consider the perfect person while I lived in Shizuoka and even if just for that reason, I treasure the decision to move there from Tokushima back in 2021. I miss Shizuoka city and the very small handful of friends I made there and hope to be reunited with them there again.
Udon and kabocha squash tempura at Marugame Udon in Amagasaki with my GREAT friend, Ryota. Ryota has treated me like a king for many years. He’s beyond generous and is one of the few people I know who truly accepts and understands me.
He’s being kind enough to put me up at his apartment for the next 4 nights before I leave. It’ll be nice to sleep in a room on a futon rather than in a booth at an Internet cafe in a reclining chair. It’s also nice to have someone to be with and talk to until I leave the country I consider more my own than the country of my birth.
