Latest news with #Western-style
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Kuching in 36 hours: Good food, chill vibes and budget-friendly
There are a few cities with laid back vibes in Malaysia but none more so than Kuching, Sarawak. The city looks a little bit like Penang's George Town but with a river running through the middle. It also has a bit of an Ipoh Old Town (in Perak) atmosphere, minus the colourful umbrellas and fancy laneways. And just like the two heritage cities, Kuching too has numerous large-scale murals strategically located for maximum visibility. However, unlike George Town and Ipoh, the murals in Kuching don't define the city, they merely act as helpful landmarks for tourists. 'Didn't I walk past this artwork 20 minutes ago?', you might find yourself asking when exploring Kuching on foot. One of the famous cat statues in Kuching. — Photos: MELODY L. GOH/The Star The heart of the city is pedestrian-friendly; even on bigger roads like Padungan, Ban Hock and Tabuan, it's still pretty safe to walk on either side. However, there is a lot of ground to cover, if you wish to go beyond the tourist areas, that is. Kuching may only feel like a small city at first, possibly because it doesn't have as many skyscrapers as most other state capitals in Malaysia (which is a good thing!), but in reality it is double the size of Kuala Lumpur. For first-time visitors, two to three nights is enough to cover main attractions like the Borneo Cultures Museum, Kuching Waterfront, Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Fort Margherita, DBKU Cat Museum, Sarawak Museum, Carpenter Street and the newly reopened St Peter's Catholic Church. If you want to include Bako National Park, Kubah National Park, Gunung Santubong or Kampung Budaya Sarawak in your itinerary, add an extra day or two to your trip. Mee kolok is a favourite with locals and visitors in Sarawak. For foodies, Kuching is definitely a must-visit as a good variety of local and native cuisines can be easily found here. Start with Carpenter Street, a touristy area but with lots of coffee shops and a food court selling mostly Chinese fare. Think mee kolok, Sarawak laksa, kueh chap, mee tomato and the like. On Padungan Road you will find more variety, as well as few Western-style cafes. Look for the restaurants selling Bidayuh food (there are couple here), and a coffee shop that sells 'traditional buns'. These are fluffy buns with either sweet or savoury fillings that are baked daily. The Kuching Waterfront is where you should go to look for Sarawak's popular kek lapis. There's a famous shop selling the cakes in many, many flavours – and colours – but if you want one with the 'original' flavour and colour, check with the sidewalk vendors instead. There are tons of shops selling souvenirs here too. Even though this is typically a tourist-heavy spot, the souvenirs sold in this area are actually pretty cheap. We recommend getting some woven bags, traditional beaded jewellery and cloths with traditional Sarawak motifs. If you skip this area, you can still get your souvenirs at the airport, albeit at a much higher price. One of the murals covering the facade of a building. While exploring Kuching, you can also play 'cat statue bingo'. The city is famous for its cat statues – officially there are three, but some businesses have erected smaller ones outside their shops – located in different areas but close enough for one to find all of them on foot. One section on Padungan Road is also decorated with street lights shaped like cats. Recently, digital travel platform Agoda released a list of the most 'budget-friendly summer destinations in Asia', and Kuching is ranked sixth out of nine. It is the only Malaysian spot on the list. According to the survey, Surabaya in Indonesia is the most affordable destination this season with an average room rate of RM150.30 per night. Known for its rich history and culture, Sura-baya is the gateway to Indonesia's other attractions, Gunung Bromo and Madura Island. This is followed by Tirupati in India (RM158.90), Hat Yai in Thailand (RM167.50), Dalat in Vietnam (RM193.30) and Iloilo in the Philippines (RM201.90). Kuching's average room rate per night sits at RM227.65, which is a great price for a city with so much to offer. The last three destinations on the list are Nagoya in Japan and Kaohsiung in Taiwan (both at RM386.55), and Daejeon in South Korea (RM399.45). The survey was based on bookings made for the period of June to August 2025, typically known in the travel industry as the 'summer' period, even if some of us don't actually experience the four seasons ... To create the list, Agoda analysed the average room rates of the top destinations across nine markets in Asia based on accommodation bookings. Bookings made between March and May for the stay period of between June 1 and Aug 31 were included in the survey. The newly renovated St Peter's Catholic Church was officially reopened on June 29.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Rengatei Carries on Tradition of Yoshoku Cuisine in Tokyo's Ginza District; Restaurant Has Served Western-Influenced Japanese Food for 130 Years
A block away from the fashionable main street of Tokyo's glitzy Ginza district is Ginza Gasuto Dori ('Gaslight street'), where a building with simple brick exterior stands: It is Rengatei, a restaurant that has been serving up yoshoku — Western-influenced Japanese cuisine — for well over a century. It was Rengatei that was responsible for popularizing famous yoshoku dishes such as omurice (stir-fried rice wrapped in an omelet), katsuretsu (cutlet of beef, pork or chicken) and hayashi rice (a plate of rice with beef and sauce). The restaurant is believed to have helped spread a culture of restaurants offering Western-style food at reasonable prices for ordinary opened in 1895 (the 28th year of the Meiji era) in the Ginza district. The restaurant underwent the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II, which burned down the restaurant. Its current building was constructed in 1964. Items inside the restaurant, such as a red public rotary telephone and a cash register which has been used for about 60 years, give customers a deep sense of the establishment's long history. I quickly ordered one of best-selling dishes, Meiji Tanjo Omurice, priced at ¥3,000 including tax. Firstly, I broke the firm omelet with a spoon and scooped up a mouthful of the food. I was surprised by the way the taste of egg softly spread through my mouth. The stir-fried rice contained seasoned minced beef and pork, and ketchup added to the overall flavor. Though the taste was simple, it precisely balanced the flavors of the egg and the rice. In a happy mood, I looked over the menu again and saw many delicious-looking yoshoku foods. Masahisa Nakamura, grand chef of Rengatei, said, 'I also recommend the katsuretsu, fried oysters and other fried dishes.' The restaurant's way of preparing fried foods has not changed since it opened, and its chefs have always been very particular about the blend of cooking oil they use. They also use fresh breadcrumbs, giving Rengatei's fried food a crispy texture. Rengatei's dishes have been loved by several famous people over the years, such as novelist Shotaro Ikenami, who was fond of their pork katsuretsu. After some cutlets and alcohol, he would always finish with a plate of hayashi Tezuka, a legendary manga artist, was another frequent customer. Koichiro Kida, the fourth-generation owner of Rengatei, said with a smile, 'Each frequent customer has their own favorite foods.' Kida's own favorites are ham steak and ham rice, which his grandfather, the second-generation owner, often cooked for him. Rengatei has passed down traditional flavors from the Meiji era to the Reiwa era. The restaurant marked the 130th anniversary of its opening this June. It feels luxurious to come into this comfortable space and enjoy the yoshoku cuisine which has been loved for so long in the Ginza district. The next time you want to reward yourself for all your hard work, this restaurant is an excellent choice. ***Rengatei Address: 3-5-16 Ginza, Chuo Ward, Tokyo Access: 3-minute walk from Ginza Station on Ginza Line Hours: Open from 11:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Closed on Sundays.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Passengers keep indulging in this nasty plane bathroom behavior — here's why airlines are afraid to call out the icky offenders
Airplane etiquette is going down the potty — but there's one particularly stinky behavior that airlines are hesitant to call out. A veteran flight attendant claims that carriers are declining to educate unfamiliar passengers on how to use Western-style toilets — over concerns they'll take offense. The confounding concession to cultural sensitivity means things can get pretty messy at 30,000 feet, according to Marcus Daniels, who retired in 2019 after working the friendly skies for over five years in Australia and the Middle East. 3 'All of us are trying to be accepting of all cultures,' said Daniels. 'However, there needs to be some kind of video or visual guide about using and keeping the toilets clean.' Yurii Zushchyk – 'Passengers will defecate on the floor and you just do your best to smile and not say anything,' the inflight insider told the Daily Mail. 'You get used to it after a while and can start mentally preparing yourself for those flights.' In fact, the crew member said he could recall dozens of stories of airplane 'accidents,' the lion's share of which occur in developing countries, where many aren't privy to the doo's and doo not do's of modern lavatory use. 'As cabin crew, you notice it happens on specific flights to specific destinations,' said Daniels. 'We'll chat and find other crew picked up on the trend too.' And while he declined to specify the routes where this issue is most common, he said it's 'not really a problem in first-world countries because we know how to use western toilets.' According to Mobility International USA, four billion people worldwide use squat pots, which require the goer to hunker down over a hole in the ground — and use a bucket or hose for heinie hygiene in lieu of TP. 3 Crew members have noticed the trend is concentrated in certain regions. – Meanwhile, a whopping 420 million of earth's inhabitants still defecate in the street, per a World Bank Blog from 2023. This can pose problems when nature calls high above certain parts of the world. 'On these routes, we're having to constantly check the toilets to make sure they're clean and the toilet rolls aren't stuffed down the bin,' lamented Daniels. 'On one flight I had a passenger who kept peeing on the floor. I tried to show her how to use the toilet, and she would nod and agree, then do it again.' 3 Billions of people still use squat toilets (pictured). zirong – He added that things got so unsanitary on one trip that he 'had to lock off the toilet for the rest of the flight.' Daniels chalked up the inability to master the game of thrones to a lack of 'education,' declaring, 'If they knew how to use the toilets, they would.' 'Most of the confused passengers don't speak English as their first language so we can't really explain how to use the toilet,' the former FA lamented. 'It would be great if there were visual guides showing how to use the toilet properly, rather than just guides for flushing.' Despite the abundance of inflight brownouts, this change likely isn't in the pipeline, per Daniels. 'Airlines are very particular about how they communicate with customers because they don't want to offend anyone,' the ex-crewmember claimed. 'All of us are trying to be accepting of all cultures. However, there needs to be some kind of video or visual guide about using and keeping the toilets clean.' He added, 'It would be a dream come true. I have friends who are still working these routes and, nine years later, it's still an issue.' A lack of bathroom etiquette isn't just revolting — a catastrophic trip to the lavatory can also jeopardize flights as well. In March, Air India implored passengers to use the lavatories for their intended purpose after passengers clogged airplane toilets with clothing, diverting an international flight. A so-called lavatory backup might seem trivial, but just one clogged toilet can prompt the pilots ground a flight due to the limited number of facilities in the air.
SoraNews24
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Totoro and Jiji tail seat cushions blend Studio Ghibli backsides with yours【Photos】
Ghibli tails from Ghibli tales. Does anyone else sometimes forget that Totoro has a tail? Maybe it's a result of how cozy napping on the forest spirit's tummy looks in the Studio Ghibli anime classic, or because of how expressive his facial expressions are. There really are a lot of captivatingly cute points to his character design to keep track of. But sure enough, he's got a tail, and now there's an adorable reminder of that fact courtesy of Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku. At 35 centimeters (13.8-inches) in diameter, the Totoro Tail Seat Cushion may not be big enough to accommodate Totoro's bottom, but it should work just fine for human fans. There's an embroidered-patch Medium/blue Totoro on the pad itself, and a pair of Soot Sprites make an appearance too. The big highlight here, though, of course, is the Totoro tail that sticks out for an anime aesthetic touch even when you're sitting on top of the cushion. The promotional photos show the urethane foam cushion placed on a chair for some extra padding, but it should also work great for Japanese tatami reed floormats, as well as on-the-floor seating in Western-style interiors with carpeting or hardwood floors. Speaking of Ghibli tails from Ghibli tales, there's one character that no one will ever forget has such an appendage, black cat Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service. Technically, the Jiji Tail Seat Cushion gives you two versions of the character's tail, one on the embroidered Jiji patch and the other dangling out from underneath the pad. The Jiji Tail Cushion is the same size as the Totoro one, and they're identically priced too, at 3,300 yen (US$23) each. Both can be ordered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online shop here. Source: Donguri Kyowakoku Featured image: Donguri Kyowakoku Top image: Studio Ghibli Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Award-Winning Noto Chefs Design JAL In-Flight Meals; Special Dishes Seek to Promote Region, Encourage Quake Recovery
KANAZAWA — Special dishes created by two chefs from the quake-stricken city of Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, are being served in economy and premium economy classes on Japan Airlines' international flights until the end of August. The project aims to promote food from the Noto region and raise awareness of the recovery efforts following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. The two chefs are Toru Kawashima, 40, of Ipponsugi Kawashima, a Michelin-stared Japanese restaurant on Ipponsugi street, and Kyohei Kurokawa, 37, of Restaurant Blossom, a Western-style eatery in the Wakura Onsen area. Both have achieved outstanding results in RED U-35, one of the largest competitions for young chefs in Japan. Kawashima's chicken dish is topped with a white miso sauce and rice steamed in broth mixed with pickled greens, while Kurokawa's dish consists of a hamburger steak paired with mushroom butter rice.A total of about 420,000 of the meals are expected to be served, covering 33 daily flights traveling from Japan to North America, Europe, Australia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. 'I hope people enjoy the synergistic umami flavors,' Kawashima said. Kurokawa said, 'I hope the in-flight meals spark interest in Noto.'
