Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019

Although I don’t recap my visits to Nodoguro like I used to on this blog (just search on Nodoguro for previous posts), I still make sure to visit Nodoguro a few times a year. At this point Nodoguro is well revered as a significant contributor to the Portland food scene both in local PDX media and nationally with raves ranging from Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveler and more, with tickets selling out quickly. But I decided to do this one of my recent visit of Nodoguro Supahardcore for some of my foodie friends who I attended the dinner with, and to show some updates on the parade of Supahardcore courses that has happened over the years. So let’s drool on together, shall we?

Doors opened 30 minutes before the dinner seating – I like arriving around this time to get settled after they take your coat and umbrella and order an initial drink to start with and hang out in the lounge doing catch-ups with your dining companion or meeting the new dining companions who will be with you on at the 16 seat counter tonight. The selfie photos are courtesy of Elizabeth and her selfie stick, thanks for sharing E!

After we were all ushered to be seated (they will have seats for your party in mind based on the various party sizes that night), we had a chance to take a look at the A5 Wagyu and its certification before it will be prepared in three different ways, three different courses tonight. Oh that beautiful marbling.
My experience at Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019 - worth the price for the multiple high quality courses and A5 Wagyu Beef My experience at Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019 - worth the price for the multiple high quality courses and A5 Wagyu Beef

And now onto dinner…

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Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima

After my work meeting, I stayed one extra day not just so I wouldn’t have to be getting on and off a plane within 48 hours – I just have always wanted to see the famous red floating Torii gates. This can only be accomplished via a Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima Island, where you will find the floating red Japanese gates as part of Itsukushima Shrine. The actual name of the island and shrine are Itsukushima (which translates to island of worship when the whole island was considered holy), but it is often called by “Miyajima” which literally means “shrine island” and is also less consonants.

Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima: One of the wild deer on Miyajima Island checking out the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima, view of the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate from inside the Shrine
One of the wild deer on Miyajima Island checking out the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate / Me and the gate behind mat at Itsukushima Shrine

It’s totally possible to do a full day trip, but also a half day, as long as you get to Miyajima by 1 or 2 PM I think. I know I bundled my only free day with first visiting the free attractions in Hiroshima per my last post, and then heading here for lunch onward. Warning, this is a long post because I wanted to cover everything about Miyajima in one post instead of over multiple posts as part of your research for a trip.

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Free Things to do in Hiroshima

If you visit Hiroshima, there are two major free things to do in Hiroshima you should not miss out on. Of all the unique things you should see here, you should visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, all of which is free if you do not go inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (which has an entrance fee). You can also enjoy the views of Hiroshima Castle for free. You can even easily do both in the same day – here’s a peek at what you might see from my visit in late November 2018.
Hiroshima Castle, one of the free things to do in Hiroshima if you just walk around the moat and park area to see the castle on the outside, there is only a small fee to enter the inside of Hiroshima Castle itself Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park one of the free things to do in Hiroshima if you just walk around the park and see the various moments there is only a small fee to enter the inside of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum itself

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How to spend less then 1 day in Iceland

We flew Icelandair to get to Copenhagen (which I covered what I did in Copenhagen in previous other posts), and when you fly Icelandair they offer the opportunity to have various lengths of full day(s) stopovers to enjoy Iceland rather then just connecting through the airport and not seeing the country. I would have liked to stay longer but we had a friend moving away from PDX that we were already hosting and seeing right before she moved on Sunday, so we only decided to stay Friday night – Saturday afternoon. So this post is our take on how to spend less then 1 day in Iceland.

Flying Icelandair A sight by the baggage claim at Keflavík International Airport

This would just be a sample taste of Iceland that needed to be simple and restful after our week in Copenhagen – so what did we do?

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Holiday Lights from Hiroshima

Although in Japan they don’t quite celebrate Christmas like we do – it is more of a romantic holiday then a family holiday since that’s what they do for New Year’s while we tend to focus more on friends and romantic partners for New Year’s – they do have holiday lights. When I was in Hiroshima at the end of December, I took a walk in the evening during my brief stay there to enjoy their free winter illuminations. Now I’m sharing them with you.

Music Garden area of Hiroshima Dreamination, 2018 Music Garden area of Hiroshima Dreamination, 2018

Here is a holiday tree by the mall right next to my hotel in Hiroshima. If you stay in Hiroshima I really liked my hotel, the RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, thanks to its easy walking distance to Hiroshima Castle, Hiroshima Museum of Art, this mall and the Hiroshima Bus Center (which also had a food court area) were right next door so gave me easy access to two more floors of restaurants besides the 8 within the hotel.
Holiday tree by the mall near my hotel in Hiroshima

Of course the hotel itself had its own Christmas tree too. Notice how both of these trees are so perfectly set up for a photo for… one? One pair of wings, and one chair?
Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018

Along Peace Boulevard that had parks between the streets Hiroshima had just set up the Hiroshima Dreamination. According to the brochure I found in the hotel lobby, the display includes 1.4 million LED lights
Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018 Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018

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