The Hunter Valley is one of the oldest and most famous wine regions in Australia, boasting many of the large names in wine, including Lindemans Wine, Tyrell’s Vineyards and Wyndham Estate. The Hunter is a popular escape situated 160 kilometres north west of Sydney and is internationally-acclaimed for producing world class semillon and shiraz.

Following is a list of ten things for wine lovers to do in The Hunter. Obviously the list can never be exhaustive so all feedback and suggestions on extending this list is welcomed.

Image source: flickr

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One night in Tokyo, I had a nomikai (drinking party) with a few of my Japanese work mates. Excited to get out and try some Japanese delicacies under the guidance of the locals, a reservation was made at an izakaya – a traditional Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks.

When we arrived, there were no seats. Only a tatami mat on the floor. I knew that I was up for a posture-breaking flexibility challenge. My friends quickly assumed a comfortable seated position as if they were yoga masters as I desperately struggled to get comfortable with my limbs inappropriately hanging all over the place.

As we pondered over the menu I decided that I did not want to be an imposition, so I relinquished responsibility of the menu selection to my more experienced Japanese colleagues. These guys accepted the task with sinister smirks upon their faces.

The first dish to arrive was bowl of tentacles. I had an internal battle saying “Reject the tentacles and offend my hosts or eat the tentacles and offend them by vomiting on the table?”. “Reject the Tentacles” won. However, there was much disappointment on the faces of my friends so I committed to eat the next dish to arrive on the table.

The next dish arrived. It was a creamy, white, gooey substance. The texture was similar to that of a brain, it had little red blood vessels. I asked what it was but the Japanese guys would not say. They kept reminding me that I was committed to eat the next dish to arrive… and there it was.

I was obligated. There was no turning back. I was on the hook.

Reluctantly I picked up my chopsticks and stared deeply at the creamy, white, gooey brain substance that laid before me. There was a chant coming from the rest of the group – Ikki, ikki, ikki, ikki… which conveniently translates as Go, go, go, go…

I dug my chopsticks in, ripped the goo out and threw it to the back of my mouth.

Reporting a strange sensation of what appeared to be of a brain texture was in fact a membrane of some kind. It felt like the membrane had exploded in my mouth and this oozing liquidy substance poured out.

My work mates were in hysterics rolling around on the tatami mat. Finally, one of them managed to regain composure to tell me what it was.

“Well, what you have just eaten is a Japanese delicacy called shirako. It is the sack inside of a fish that contains the fishes sperm. So, you have just eaten the equivalent to fish testicles.”

I stared deeply into space at the shock of the news just broken to me whilst the Japanese guys feasted happily on the remaining shirako.

If you think that this is weird then check out 10 Weird Japanese Foods for more bizarre morsels of Japanese culinary strangeness such as raw horse meat, aquatic insects, grasshoppers, bee larvae and more. If you are not that adventurous, then check out 10 Cool Japanese Foods for a delicious selection of Japanese fare.

Salarymen are the Japanese corporate livestock. They are the thousands of faceless, suited, white collar office-workers. Dutiful conformists whose lives revolve entirely around work. They work long hours and when their day is over, they are often found spending their evenings in a local izakaya or karaoke bar plying themselves full of sake or beer or shōchū until the last train.

The following collection features 10 of the best publicly sleeping salarymen photos. Those who made the last train, and those who didn’t.

1. The Suicide Pact

The man in the foreground lies on the yellow navigation stripe used by blind people probably not realising it is for the vision impaired, not the blind drunk. Taken by jhtham in Shibuya at 5.00am on a Saturday morning.

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