Skip to content

Austin

Losing the Mystery

I have become very discouraged with Japanese lately. It’s not because it’s hard, honestly.  It is hard, but it’s manageable.  There’s a lot to learn and a lot to memorize, but it’s not beyond my abilities. It’s really not because it’s time consuming either.  It kind of is, but I can carve out the time. I think it’s more because I don’t really see an end game to the whole thing.  I started learning it because it interested me, and it still kinda does, but it is starting to feel… Read More »Losing the Mystery

Kinokuniya

A new Kinokuniya just opened in Austin.  I discovered it by accident, as it is right next door to Kura Sushi, which is one of my favorite places to eat sushi. As I walked in, two thoughts filled my head.  “Holy crap, I just found the mother lode” was one.  The other was “There goes my budget”. They have Japanese language magazines.  They have Japanese language books.  They have Japanese language manga.  They have books on how to learn Japanese.  They have plushes, they have stationery, they have novelties, they… Read More »Kinokuniya

Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 3.

I had some errands to run this morning up in Cedar Park.  On my way back, I decided to stop at Lakeline Mall to see what they had to offer.  I was not disappointed. However, I was indeed disappointed by their “Japanese” fast food restaurant in the food court.  It was kinda sorta Japanese food, but just barely.  I had a chicken bento, and while nothing in it was particularly bad, it was just not of any quality at all.  Basically, Japanese food of mall quality.  I’ll pass. So after that, I… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 3.

Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 2

I have been continuing my search of Austin, and found a couple of interesting places of note that I thought I’d review. The first is Asahi Japanese Store on Burnet just north of Koenig.  It is a store that carries only Japanese groceries and gifts, and is manned (womaned?) by Japanese speakers.  It is a small, out of the way place, but it has a lot of unique Japanese treats you will not find anywhere else.  I found some berry and mikan daifuku, and while I couldn’t eat the whole… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin, part 2

Japanese Food and Stores in Austin

I have a serious post in the works, but this one is fun, I hope. Today I went around my current town of Austin, Texas, looking for interesting Japanese things.  I found a store called FIT Japanese Store over on Lamar, in the ChinaTown shopping center.  It had a pretty decent selection of interesting and cutesy stuff, including toys, housewares, plushes, etc.  I was a little disappointed at how small their selection was (I would have hoped there were more plushes and other cute things) but all told, it was… Read More »Japanese Food and Stores in Austin