Shari, I’m not into temples either and I wasn’t into Kyoto when I went but some of the streets and narrow alleys were very cool. If I went to Kyoto again I doubt I would visit the temples.

I think that everyone has their priorities when they travel. For some, it’s sightseeing. For others, it’s food. For more than a few, it’s simply getting business done. I can’t count the number of times people have asked me if I’ve been to Kyoto (I haven’t). I’m simply not all that into temples. I went to Nikko and saw more than my fill. It doesn’t hold interest for me to see every temple in Japan anymore than it would hold my interest to taste every disgusting dish there is on offer.

For Bourdain, his priority is always the food so he harps about it but he doesn’t have a clue about how business is conducted, how the local dress evolved or what it may mean to the people, and he often doesn’t know about the religions, holidays, etc. How is it that he’s not a tourist in every sense of the word except in the case of food? Even then, he can afford to eat for entertainment rather than nourishment. Someone else is always footing his bill. If he has to buy another meal because the one he just ate came up a short time later, he doesn’t have to sweat the expense.

Also, for an adventurer, he sometimes really pines for comfort food. After eating some sort of bird’s nest soup (1000 year old, I think) in China, he was lying on his bed rubbing his stomach and pining for a cheese sandwich. Some of us would rather skip the possibility of feeling queasiness that required several hours of lying down and get on with other things.

Exactly. If you’ve tried something and you don’t like it, that’s a whole nother matter, but if you don’t try it just because it sounds bad…eh. I did the same as you did in Germany in Japan, and I loved the outcome. Yep, I’m all about the adventure when it comes to food:)

Ok, you lost me, you’re interested in the history of the dish, but not actually tasting the dish?

As for Anthony, yes, he is self-centered, judgmental and myopic. Would I want to sit down and have dinner with him? No. Do I like his message? Yes.

Ok, you got me to laugh out-loud about the Cheerios:-p

But this same idea can be applied to all sorts of aspect of life. Yes, I come to Japan on business, I get my work done, and then I go and explore when my work is done for the day. Sometimes it’s as small as I walk out of my hotel and think “Well…haven’t gone this direction yet.” and I just start walking.

As for cow penis *shrug* I’d try it. The only thing I have no desire to try is fugu, but only because someone I trust implicitly told me it really isn’t that good for the amount of money you pay for it. I trust him 100% when it comes to food, so *shrug*.

Different people travel for different reasons. I’m mainly interested in the cultural and psychological issues. I’m interested in why various dishes developed into a big part of a culture but I’m not interested in eating them.

I think a lot of people who are travelling and can’t communicate about the food they want will go for familiar places because they know what they are getting and can point at what they want. It’s really intimidating being in a country where you can neither read nor write the language in a restaurant. It’s even worse to be in an expensive place, like Tokyo, and take a risk and find you’ve just paid for something gag-inducing (a rather high risk considering some of the food here).

As for Anthony Bourdain, I like watching his travel shows but I think he’s incredibly self-centered, judgemental and myopic. His whole life is food and he can’t seem to tear himself away from his own worldview long enough to understand it’s not everyone’s life. I can’t imagine why anyone would judge people based on how they choose to eat. It just seems incredibly shallow.

His views are also overtly anti-ethnocentric. He accepts food prepared in a pedestrian fashion abroad but judges American food harshly (though he feels his restaurant makes the best french fries in the world! – talk about prioritizing low-grade fare). I recall him talking about a crepe (or some piece of crap) he ate slathered with Nutella and how great it was despite the fact that it’s the sort of thing a 10-year old might toss together and watch in front of the tube. I’m guessing that a dish made with Cheerios in Norway would be the bee’s knees but in the U.S., it’s part of our crapulence. :-p

Some people aren’t travelling because they like the particular country or culture but because they are working or whatever. In which case, maybe they don’t want to be eating anything unfamiliar that could make them sick and they’re in business mode not adventure mode. Also, some people just aren’t into food. If I go visit a country I will try different things but generally it’s not high on my priorities. I’m just not that interested in tasting. But I wouldn’t go to Mcdonalds or Wendy’s either. Give me a good turkey sandwich and I’m good.

Also didn’t you say somewhere that everytime you came to Japan the first place you went was MOS Burger? Now, I know you don’t have them in the US but that’s hardly a step above Wendy’s IMO. Next time you come let me take you to eat Cow Penis. MMmmm..