What is the World's Most Life-Changing Travel Destination? P.S. We're Drunk
Which country tops the list of the World's Most Life-Changing Destinations? We challenge an article that tries to answer this question. Which destinations could genuinely be life-changing and transformative? Have we been to these countries and would we say the same? It's also a celebration of sorts, as it's the last episode before Adam leaves Japan. Expect heartfelt conversation, brotherly love, slurred speech, and at least one cup of the cheapest sake on the market.
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Drunk in Tokyo: Adam's Final Night in Japan
03:02 - What Is Sake? (And What's the Difference Between Sake & Nihonshu?)
07:22 - We Try Japan's Famous 7-Eleven One Cup Sake
14:12 - Why Japanese Beer Is So Good
17:29 - Our Incredible Omakase Sushi Experience
21:28 - The Best Sushi We Ate in Japan
26:53 - Which Country Changes People the Most?
30:08 - The World's Most Transformative Travel Destinations
35:08 - Our Emotional Goodbye
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Welcome to Tripology
Alun:
[0:02] Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology. It's a backpacking show where two best friends who are literally backpacking literally podcast about said topic. I'm Alan and I'm here with the ever inebriated Adam.
Adam:
[0:17] Drunk in the morning, drunk in the evening, just like me.
Alun:
[0:22] A beautiful song by a beautiful man in a beautiful country as part of a beautiful friendship that we cultivated over years of traveling together and now it's your final day it's your final hours in less than 12 hours you'll not be a part of my life anymore
Adam:
[0:36] Well no not physical not physical.
Alun:
[0:39] Life which is the most important part of life
Adam:
[0:42] It's why this relationship will never work alan because i keep.
Alun:
[0:44] Leaving you'll always be a part of my life in many ways but physically won't be one of them any longer and in order to celebrate that fact and that fact alone we went out for some saki and the resorted podcast that is now ensuing is going to suffer as a result
Adam:
[1:01] You think it'll be worse because we've had something to.
Alun:
[1:03] Drink not worse but different
Adam:
[1:06] Definitely different because the keen-eyed listener slash watcher viewer will notice that we have got a couple of cans of beer as well as one thing i'm really excited to share with you, because i've never itching i'm a It's one of the most famous products from 7-Eleven or any other convenience store. We'll drink it as well.
Alun:
[1:31] Will we?
Adam:
[1:31] We'll taste it. Okay. Even though we've had a few drinks. Well, we had three.
Alun:
[1:37] We're the only backpacking podcast that would dare.
Adam:
[1:39] That would dare have a drink?
Alun:
[1:40] Have a drink. And also, I want to make a point, because I said the quality of the podcast will suffer as a result. Right. And you said... um you know will it and i said it will be
Adam:
[1:50] Different yeah.
Alun:
[1:51] And that you know according to the buddhist ideal is suffering it's the difference it's the change it's the impermanence that is causing the suffering yeah and to pivot from higher-minded ideas like that to then boshing japan's cheapest shittiest saki it's that kind of flip-flopping that other travel podcasts haven't got yet
Adam:
[2:16] Uh no no i think you're right i mean we weren't going to record another episode we've been fairly productive we're crowbarring it in and we looked at each other we thought we've got 45 minutes we're a little window, what should we do i mean well what else are you going to do other than drink when you're in japan and you said we could record an episode we've probably got enough time.
Alun:
[2:33] Yeah i slipped back into my old ways for a little bit i've tried to be so hands-off with you this trip i've said we don't know we never need to work unless you want to
Adam:
[2:41] Work and then i'm calling his bluff and.
Alun:
[2:43] Then i drank
Adam:
[2:43] A few days ago i drank a.
Alun:
[2:44] Little sake and i was like adam you know what would be really productive right now is if we use the sake
Adam:
[2:52] Uh yeah yeah we use the sake i would like to to drink this with you i've got every um suspicion that it's going to be fairly.
Alun:
[3:00] Well tell me a little bit more about it mate because what is sake
Adam:
[3:04] Sake is like rice wine equivalent of right um there's other things i mean there's sort of koji i mean in terms of how it's made i don't have all the information to hand that's okay but just think of it as rice wine.
Alun:
[3:17] Right all right have you got that
Adam:
[3:19] Japan japan do make their own wine out of grapes.
Alun:
[3:22] That's grape wine that's you wouldn't call that
Adam:
[3:24] Sake it's normal wine um but nihonshu yeah is um sort of rice wine of japan and it's i think delicious nihonshu.
Alun:
[3:33] And sake are synonyms
Adam:
[3:36] Nah, not really. Saki is actually more of a general term to mean Japanese alcohol.
Alun:
[3:42] All nihonshu is sake, but not all sake is nihonshu.
Adam:
[3:46] Yeah, I think that actually is true. Should I get the definition up now?
Alun:
[3:50] Pull it up while I talk a bit more about this. Now, we've talked about 7-Eleven, Lawson's, Family Mart, convenies. They have a very specific cultural place in Japanese society. and this sits on the shelf of all these convenience stores as a sort of staple uh item it's made by a beautiful little company called ozeki it's
Adam:
[4:12] Called are you sure i think that might just be the type of it's like a brand name or something along those lines yeah like.
Alun:
[4:18] I said a company that makes it they uh they produce this product it's called saki one cup and it's basically i mean the name on the bottle describes the product it's simple it's a comes in a lovely glass jar with a ring pull a flip top and uh it's cheap isn't it
Adam:
[4:37] Very cheap form of alcohol.
Alun:
[4:39] If you want to get effed up of an evening perhaps
Adam:
[4:42] Consider does it have the alcohol by volume because there will be other youtubers who have had this and i'm not referring to us as youtubers but there are youtube channels content creators where they live in japan or they travel japan and they do go and get one of these and they taste it uh, on a video however not all of them, are wine professionals, so now maybe not all of us are wine professionals, would you be so kind as to open that i'll do i realize this is a bit of an electric start to an episode but i'm leaving tomorrow and quite frankly i'm sad i'm down in the dumps i'm not ready to leave.
Alun:
[5:17] I'm a bit sad
Adam:
[5:18] As well i did think let's just be really honest for a second when I knew I was going to come to Tokyo in my mouth yeah I can just do this, so I am living with Alan you guys know that and Alan lives in quite a residential part of Tokyo, But, no, I have to say, we've had enough discussions about how long it takes to get into the city and the fact that I love just walking for hours and hours and exploring lots of different areas of Tokyo because I still feel like a tourist here. However, having lived with you in a residential area where you can see the same people every day, you can walk down some streets where you're not surrounded by skyscrapers, absolutely dwarfed by some of the biggest buildings on earth. you go to all these little market streets and lovely little shops and it actually feels much more local it feels you.
Alun:
[6:07] Know you've enjoyed it i've
Adam:
[6:09] Loved it it's an experience that i could not have had without you so i really appreciate that i don't want you to i don't want me to leave and you think oh you know maybe you would have been more at home if you'd been right in the thick of it in the hustle and battle it's nice having a choice.
Alun:
[6:23] Well i would say this to counter to what you've just said go on i would say that every experience that i've had in my life since meeting you has been an experience that wouldn't have been the same or i wouldn't have had without you because you've affected my existence so holistically oh across so many different parameters that
Adam:
[6:42] I'm taking it positively.
Alun:
[6:44] No i mean i don't think there'd be any other way to read it i think you know so so ditto is what i'm saying mate ditto
Adam:
[6:51] Good you do live you live in a wicked area.
Alun:
[6:53] This life is an experience that i couldn't have had without you this area is an experience that you couldn't have had without me and that's a equal trade off it smells like i mean to me hot hot ass my detractors will say that i've um my detractors will say that i've broken my nose too many times to know but to me it tastes like uh smells like rather uh sort of spicy water
Adam:
[7:19] Okay i mean it's fairly apt.
Alun:
[7:22] And it tastes like the worst sake I've ever had in my life.
Adam:
[7:25] I think even calling it sake is generous. That's mental. At this point. Is it really awful?
Alun:
[7:29] Well, because we've just come from a sake place where we've drank sake.
Adam:
[7:33] Yeah, we've just been very fortunate to have some of the best sushi we've ever had in our lives.
Alun:
[7:37] And some of the best sake we've ever had in our lives. Yeah. Although we've not had much.
Adam:
[7:40] It was an eight-seater sushi restaurant. And we were the only two in there apart from the chef. Not planned. I have to be honest. But it was lovely. It was just a private omakase dining experience where we watched a chef do his thing. It was wicked, wasn't it?
Alun:
[7:56] It was amazing. Coming from there to this is mad.
Adam:
[8:03] It smells actually a little bit like molasses or something. It's got a very sweet smell.
Alun:
[8:09] It smells like they've got alcohol-free rice wine and then added alcohol to it.
Adam:
[8:16] That is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.
Alun:
[8:18] Really? You like it?
Adam:
[8:20] No, I didn't say that. I don't like it. But it's... The aftertaste is unpleasant, I would say.
Alun:
[8:28] I think the look of it, and I've had this problem with sake before, the look of it makes me think it's going to hydrate me.
Adam:
[8:35] What, just because it's clear liquid?
Alun:
[8:36] Yeah, and then my body gets excited.
Adam:
[8:39] Do you feel the same way about vodka?
Alun:
[8:41] Oh, yeah. And gin? Oh, yeah.
Adam:
[8:43] Trust me, if you put that in the freezer to the point where it might start freezing, because I think it's probably only about 15% or 16%. I can't quite tell because I can't read Japanese. Yeah, I think it's 15%. I think if you got that down to a real, real cold temperature and did a shot of it, I reckon it'd be all right. It has still got that kind of ricey, umami flavour.
Alun:
[9:06] Yeah.
Adam:
[9:06] All right. All right. We've got some beers here, just in case. I'm trying to get an article up.
Alun:
[9:13] I just think there's something quite sour about it.
Adam:
[9:16] Yeah, the acid.
Alun:
[9:17] I don't know if I'd call it acid.
Adam:
[9:20] What would you call it?
Alun:
[9:22] Sour.
Adam:
[9:27] So, I mean, yeah, it's not really fair, the fact that we're comparing this to something that we've just had, which was quality and made by someone who cares and not made on mass.
Alun:
[9:39] What, you think the people at Oziki don't care?
Adam:
[9:42] No, I just think that they're making it to a price point.
Alun:
[9:44] They might care an awful lot about affordable sake. That might be like something that they're passionate about.
Adam:
[9:49] I think they probably care more about making money, in all honesty.
Alun:
[9:53] It's a big claim.
Adam:
[9:54] Who would you recommend this to?
Alun:
[9:57] If you're...
Adam:
[9:58] If you're not a wine professional.
Alun:
[10:00] Yeah, no, I mean, so you're...
Adam:
[10:03] I like the cap, though.
Alun:
[10:05] It doesn't quite fit, but...
Adam:
[10:06] I can't do it one-handed.
Alun:
[10:07] We've always got wet on our jeans.
Adam:
[10:09] I'm not as dexterous.
Alun:
[10:09] It's quite a volatile cup. Well, you say that, but I tried to put my microphone in my mouth there so I could open it and failed miserably. I'm still thinking about it now in my head. I'm like, do you remember when I put a microphone in my mouth? I think who I'd recommend that to is sort of like a salaryman living in Tokyo.
Adam:
[10:26] Yeah.
Alun:
[10:26] He has a... He's just realized he's got celiac disease. So he's good. He can't have his beer on the way home from work.
Adam:
[10:34] Can't have his beer.
Alun:
[10:35] He sees one cup sake. Yeah. He goes, that's not beer. He takes it to a park.
Adam:
[10:41] Yeah.
Alun:
[10:41] He drinks it. And then as a beautiful gesture, he goes home to his wife and he says, sweetheart, I've just got you an empty container that you can use for some of your homemade preserves. And she goes. no way thank you
Adam:
[10:55] You shouldn't i can put my.
Alun:
[10:56] Preserves in here he goes yep that's why i got it
Adam:
[10:58] And then because he's already consumed everything in there yeah yeah.
Alun:
[11:00] In the park on the
Adam:
[11:01] Way home she goes you haven't been drinking have you and he.
Alun:
[11:03] Goes no he goes so i've not been drinking i've been i've been i've been getting you a homemade preserve jar and in my mind they live happily ever after after that that's who it's for
Adam:
[11:18] Yeah i mean also i do just want to mention the name it's called one cup sake now if you drink that entire thing which is 180 meal yeah you'll be steaming you would be you'd be absolutely sideways so a cup is, what i don't think it's a measure i mean it literally isn't no it.
Alun:
[11:36] Is in the u.s do you think that is literally one
Adam:
[11:38] Cup actually let's look that up as well yeah we're doing a lot of looking up.
Alun:
[11:41] In the u.s guys For our English-British listeners, a cup is something they use in the US to measure things for baking. And I think that this might be exactly a cup. It's 180 mil.
Adam:
[11:56] One cup, one US cup is actually 236.5. Really? So it's less.
Alun:
[12:03] So it's 56.5 mils shy of a cup.
Adam:
[12:06] Yeah.
Alun:
[12:06] That's what they should call it.
Adam:
[12:09] Maybe less appealing to the consumer.
Alun:
[12:11] 56.5 mil shy of a cup of sake.
Adam:
[12:16] Yeah, but either way, if you are an alcoholic and poor, maybe look into it.
Alun:
[12:23] But you've afforded a flight to Japan, and then upon arriving, you've realized that you're both an alcoholic and financially a bit hard up at the moment.
Adam:
[12:34] I think the problem I have, because I place a lot of importance on not just, you know, food and drink and stuff, but I like alcohol, obviously, but I like quality alcohol. I would find it very difficult to justify buying this for any other reason than just to have a try. Like, you're not going out on a night out. I'm not sitting around with you enjoying myself drinking this.
Alun:
[12:56] Who are you sitting around with enjoying it with?
Adam:
[12:58] This is a last resort, and even then I'd prefer to have water. Yeah. Do you know what I mean?
Alun:
[13:03] Because the night's over, isn't it? When someone's brought the one cup sake to the table, it's over, isn't it?
Adam:
[13:08] This is like when you go to a house party and someone goes, ah, do you want a gin and tonic? And I look at the table and it's Gordon's gin and Schwepp's tonic. I go, nah mate, I'm driving, thanks Do you know what I mean?
Alun:
[13:17] For me it was tequila And I danced through the house party on my way to the taxi I remember it vividly
Adam:
[13:28] Do you want to try my favourite Japanese.
Alun:
[13:30] Beer? Yeah, let's keep on I want to talk about, mate, the experience that you just brought us on
Adam:
[13:36] Can we do that in just a second?
Alun:
[13:37] What, you want to talk about beer first?
Adam:
[13:38] No, I don't want to talk about beer But I've just got a definition of sake versus nahonte Yeah.
Alun:
[13:41] Bring it to the
Adam:
[13:42] Table There are no rules on this episode No. You know, as opposed to...
Alun:
[13:46] Or any episode, really. Yeah. Unless I'm trying to enforce them. Oh, cheers. Cheers. I didn't say it. I'm waiting for you. Are you ready? Are you dexterous enough to open that one yourself?
Adam:
[13:56] If we get comments on this episode and people say, God, it was so much more enjoyable than all the others.
Alun:
[14:00] I'm just going to take heroin.
Adam:
[14:03] You're alcohol consumption. One cup heroin. Cheers. Cheers, guys. Thank you.
Alun:
[14:09] Thank you. We're celebrating today.
Adam:
[14:12] Two weeks for anyone else who's wondering how long I've been here. Yeah. Two weeks. Two weeks and two days.
Alun:
[14:17] It's felt like, I think when you really enjoy your time with someone, it feels simultaneously shorter and longer than the allotted time.
Adam:
[14:27] I would agree. I would agree. I think time moves slowly, but the end comes really quickly.
Alun:
[14:31] I'm struggling to remember a time when you weren't here. It just seems like you're a part of my life in Japan now.
Adam:
[14:39] Yeah i wish i was then.
Alun:
[14:40] Simultaneously it feels like i know in a few days time it's going to be it's going to felt like i wish she was here for longer
Adam:
[14:47] Maybe i'll come back i'll come back you might not be in this house uh no cool is bluff oh actually adam so this is this is my favorite japanese beer um made by sapporo, it's delicious isn't it yeah really cool gold can it's the one that you drink if um you like beer that tastes nice.
Alun:
[15:06] I have to say if you'd frozen a jory and sprinkled some literal feces on it and rammed it into my gob after that one cup sake i thought it was all right
Adam:
[15:17] Um i don't let that deter you guys a lot of japanese beer especially when it comes out the taps delicious isn't it namabiru they really um tell them about namo they get.
Alun:
[15:27] The cup right
Adam:
[15:29] The what.
Alun:
[15:30] The the beer mug
Adam:
[15:31] Yes yeah yeah this is someone who is either drunk or doesn't drink that much yeah you got a cup on the brain.
Alun:
[15:38] Um i don't drink that much but the times i have had a beer with you um the the mug that's been served in has been so wonderfully pre-treated
Adam:
[15:50] Yeah chilled yeah it comes cold.
Alun:
[15:53] Yeah but that's in in my country yeah the glass is never that cold
Adam:
[16:00] No it's got literal.
Alun:
[16:01] Icicles forming around the rim here
Adam:
[16:03] It is a nice touch isn't it it's amazing and the head guys if you've never well let's not.
Alun:
[16:08] Talk about that that doesn't happen every
Adam:
[16:09] Time, oh dear there's no tipping culture but service is exceptional um, anyway so sake also spelled sake you don't need to know that in english is a japanese rice wine made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran unlike wine in which alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in fruit typically grapes sake is produced by a brewing process, more like that of beer where the starch is converted into sugars before being converted to alcohol uh the brewing process, this is just talking about fucking hell adam my goodness oh in in the japanese language the word sake i, can refer to any alcoholic drink while the beverage called sake in english is usually termed nihonshu under japanese liquor laws sake is labeled with the word, seishu a synonym less commonly used in conversation so for us english speakers, we would say sake when we probably mean nihonshu, because i think sake is a broader term that encompasses a few other rice liquors okay or liquors in general in japan so if what you want is the rice wine you can say nihonshu or sake and you'll probably get.
Alun:
[17:26] Some head you're looking for yeah
Adam:
[17:28] There you go.
Alun:
[17:29] Okay amazing yeah so let's talk about that uh experience that we just went on because you said it's my last day yeah in japan yeah and you wanted to treat me
Adam:
[17:40] I did well i just you'd, Made a couple of comments about going to a really nice sushi restaurant. And we probably eat, if we're going to pick one food stuff, more onigiri, sushi, kind of rice and fish sashimi combos. That's fair. Than anything else we eat.
Alun:
[17:58] My cost of living's increased tenfold since you've arrived.
Adam:
[18:01] Has it? Yeah. Why is that?
Alun:
[18:03] Because I've been cooking for myself previously.
Adam:
[18:06] Okay. But has your enjoyment of eating increased?
Alun:
[18:09] My enjoyment of life has increased. Result.
Adam:
[18:12] Quits him quits him um but what i thought was even though you're someone who really appreciates food you love food you love going out and enjoying yourself.
Alun:
[18:21] If i was left to my own devices yeah i would be obese what yeah i believe
Adam:
[18:27] That even in japan.
Alun:
[18:29] It just in life in general i had to learn early yeah to really discipline myself around food
Adam:
[18:36] Okay and if.
Alun:
[18:37] I was just like if that if i just let myself actually be my state of nature animal self i would just keep on eating
Adam:
[18:45] Okay maybe i'd be huge you're in the best country for that because you'd.
Alun:
[18:49] But i'm so disciplined just three or four meals a day
Adam:
[18:56] Your portion sizes are actually pretty healthy as well and by healthy i mean.
Alun:
[19:00] Big yes yeah yeah but
Adam:
[19:02] He's got a good appetite on the guy.
Alun:
[19:03] Oh yeah it could be so much worse though
Adam:
[19:06] Yeah well with with the food that we've been eating a lot of it has been fish and rice raw fish and rice that's.
Alun:
[19:12] Fair to say
Adam:
[19:13] So we're in the sushi you know capital of the world obviously i used to work with a japanese woman and she said um that you can only get good sushi in japan, i don't think that's true but who am i to say she's japanese and i'm not that's true, but I really wanted to do this for you because it's the sort of thing and I did tell you this at the time the sort of thing that you might not do if I wasn't here, I didn't drag you kicking and screaming.
Alun:
[19:42] No, I was willing to come.
Adam:
[19:43] Yeah, but it was...
Alun:
[19:44] Especially when you said that... You sent me a lovely text, actually. You said, I don't want any arguments. I'm going to pay.
Adam:
[19:50] Yeah.
Alun:
[19:51] That's the end of it.
Adam:
[19:52] Yeah. Just let it happen. Enjoy it. Relax. Drink your sake.
Alun:
[19:57] We can talk about whether we go halves on the alcohol, you said.
Adam:
[20:00] Yeah.
Alun:
[20:00] Which is fair enough.
Adam:
[20:01] Well, it's just because I was happy to pay for everything. Yeah. I know what you're like. I know there would have been a little bit of you that was like, oh.
Alun:
[20:08] I ended up paying for the drinks. Yeah. The interesting thing about one person paying for the alcohol and one person paying for the food is the food was undeniably the better experience, but the drink lasts longer afterwards.
Adam:
[20:20] Well, especially if the pieces of food that you're eating, I guess, are one mouthful.
Alun:
[20:26] They're moments in time, aren't they? They are. Whereas the alcohol, I'm still feeling it now.
Adam:
[20:32] I think we got a good deal as well, because what I ordered, guys, when I spoke to this sushi restaurant, really highly rated, lovely little sushi restaurant. Like I said, there's only like six or eight seats at the table. It's just one bloke.
Alun:
[20:42] But definitely not seven, because that would necessitate one person being on their own.
Adam:
[20:47] Mm-hmm. that person could be me actually i often go out and eat.
Alun:
[20:52] Yeah you and a party of six friends
Adam:
[20:54] But um it was wonderful they got a number of different set menus you can have you know eight courses 10 courses 14 courses whatever, but we ordered the three appetizers and the 10 pieces of nigiri like the you know little piece of rice with a with a fish on top or whatever and, i think we got like six appetizers didn't we yeah, we got a lot that's why i actually i said to him i just clarified i said scott we are getting this menu and he's like he winked.
Alun:
[21:20] At you and went yeah yeah
Adam:
[21:24] Um what were your favorites because they there was a lot of big hitters on there oh man there was three for me that were standout okay let's.
Alun:
[21:30] See if we got the same standouts i know that one of us one of them different is different but let's go i know that you loved and i thought was raising the fatty tuna was a really amazing piece of
Adam:
[21:41] Sushi so it's like butter.
Alun:
[21:44] If you really good quality.
Adam:
[21:49] And you're calling it fatty tuna, to anyone who doesn't know.
Alun:
[21:52] It's actually just tuna that I'm vaguely taking a bit of it.
Adam:
[21:55] I'm insulting it. No, like, it is a proper cut. It is the proper name for the piece of sushi. Fatty tuna. And you can get medium fatty tuna and whatever. Toro. It's usually the most expensive.
Alun:
[22:04] There was one on a spoon that I really liked. I don't know what it was, but I liked its attitude.
Adam:
[22:08] Oh, you might not. You might not like what it is once I tell you. Uni. Sea urchin.
Alun:
[22:13] Yeah, I like it more now that I know.
Adam:
[22:15] It was bloody good. That was my other favourite.
Alun:
[22:16] I like it more because i've stepped on one of those bastards before
Adam:
[22:19] What with the black spiky bits yeah fucking hell and.
Alun:
[22:21] I've thought at the time i thought one day get you i'm gonna get you naked get your insides out and put you on a spoon much like you with that ram that one time so yeah i like it more now that was my one of my favorites
Adam:
[22:36] Yeah agree so you picked my top.
Alun:
[22:38] Two this is where we're going to differentiate though because i the japanese tiger prawn I know that's not in your top three
Adam:
[22:45] It's not but it's delicious.
Alun:
[22:46] My goodness if you can imagine a very very flavourful prawn then you're onto it you've started well but then imagine that it just carries on indefinitely i started chewing it five minutes later it was still giving me it was almost like tiger prawn flavored chewing gum
Adam:
[23:06] Yeah at great length.
Alun:
[23:07] Oh amazing length which is one of the things i looked for in foods because famously when i was a kid these are some of the foods that i like the best i would say to my mom can i have these yeah a pomegranate as a kid takes a long time yeah you leave me with a pomegranate well your
Adam:
[23:24] Mum's got to go and buy the pomegranate first it's not the sort of thing you have lying exactly.
Alun:
[23:27] So you're waiting two to three hours for her to come back from the shops and then a toothpick and a pomegranate hours of fun
Adam:
[23:34] Oh my god.
Alun:
[23:36] Right and then another thing i used to get her to do is put a carton
Adam:
[23:39] Like a punishment.
Alun:
[23:40] No no because for me it was like i was i couldn't stop eating yeah i needed things that were going to slow me down take a long time right so another thing we used to do as a strategy yeah is put a carton of apple juice in the freezer right and then cut the top off the apple juice and i just suck that
Adam:
[23:58] I think you might have told me that before yeah.
Alun:
[24:01] And at the end you just left with block of ice
Adam:
[24:03] As you just sucked all the flavor.
Alun:
[24:05] You suck all the flavor out of it yeah if you've got if you're at home and you've got some time to kill put a carton of apple juice in the freezer and suck all the flavor out of it see how long it takes you write in topologypodcast.com so what i'm saying basically is that one of the things i like about foods is the length of time they take to consume and the tiger prawn one in that regard
Adam:
[24:25] Where i'm from in the south of england we just go in manchester like added sugar get a bit inventive and start putting things in the freezer.
Alun:
[24:35] Yeah you do it's better than any ice lolly
Adam:
[24:38] I love the shrimp the raw shrimp we had two of those at the very beginning the mackerel i mean of course anyone who knows me which is, not many people uh would know that i am a massive fan of mackerel not enough to get a tattoo of mackerel like that guy i saw once on a hike in new zealand.
Alun:
[24:54] But that's a crazy tattoo it is
Adam:
[24:56] It is probably my favorite fish and I think the Japanese do it so well.
Alun:
[25:00] I think it'd be nice if me and you got matching tattoos of a pomegranate and a carton of apple juice
Adam:
[25:05] What hang on do i get one or the other.
Alun:
[25:08] Or which one would you prefer the pomegranate you can have it
Adam:
[25:12] Like a cross.
Alun:
[25:12] Section yeah because with the toothpick next to it isn't there a word in french for pomegranate that means like grenade or something
Adam:
[25:18] Yeah that is it.
Alun:
[25:19] Good now yeah amazing so perfect so it speaks to one key aspect of your personality that was a good guess by me
Adam:
[25:26] It was a very good guess but i think you kind of knew less of a guess more of just a memory.
Alun:
[25:30] But echo from my past all
Adam:
[25:32] Right uh but we had an amazing time there was no dessert there was nothing sweet the sweetest thing was the tamago it was like the the eggy omelette thing which was pretty nice.
Alun:
[25:41] Um and the guy serving us
Adam:
[25:43] He was sweet wasn't.
Alun:
[25:44] He really sweet yeah
Adam:
[25:45] He was lovely.
Alun:
[25:46] There was one point where adam saw a bottle of wine which he thought was like um you know when someone who's into something sees something that means something to them and you just have to like be happy for them that they've seen it like if someone's into pokemon and they see a rare pokemon card for example you've got to be like oh i'm happy for you that you saw that adam saw a bottle of wine that he liked got excited he was like oh no way and the guy went yeah it's wine i don't i don't have to go yes i know it's wine but it's a specific type of wine that it is that i'm excited about sweet japanese man
Adam:
[26:24] It's one of the most expensive rarest but coveted It was a.
Alun:
[26:27] $4,700 bottle of wine, that.
Adam:
[26:30] Yeah, current market value, $4,700.
Alun:
[26:32] It's no 8 million yen for a shiny Gyarados, but it's an expensive bottle of wine all the same.
Adam:
[26:37] Yeah, very much so. Unfortunately, it was empty. It was just sitting on a shelf. Like a trophy, like a used bottle of wine. We've only got a few minutes left, but I do want to introduce you to an article I read recently to get your take on it.
Alun:
[26:53] Okay, I'm willing to listen.
Adam:
[26:54] I'm going to rip through it. We're currently sitting at, just a time check, guys, 27 minutes, but we've got five more. That's fine. I'm on a website called explore.co.uk.
Alun:
[27:03] Oh, I've had to run in with those guys before. Have you? They've sent me some pretty negative emails.
Adam:
[27:09] Um this article right is about the most life-changing most transformative trips that people have been on, okay so think of all the countries that you've ever been to right yeah which country i'm just gonna ask you live on air yeah would you say has given you the most life-changing transformative experience, i'm gonna say, kenya oh interesting yeah and a reason why.
Alun:
[27:40] I lived in a slum in called githari a specific part of githari Maybe slums a bit harsh, but that's what the people living there called it outside of Nairobi. And I was working for a nonprofit there. I was teaching computer classes, but I've got very, very immersed in the life there. I really lived there. And it was like, for me, up until then, I'd been doing quite conventional backpacker things. Southeast Asia, I'd been doing, you know, worked in a potato factory in Australia. I'd been doing like backpacker stuff. Yeah. It was the first time where I felt like I was really off of, not just the beaten track, but off of any track whatsoever, doing my own thing in a place where no other backpackers were or had been. And really experiencing a part of the world that I'd previously only heard about or read about. I'd never seen it. and I was just spending time with the people there and like breaking bread eating dinner hanging out watching tv with them and got to understand their perspective on the world around them and and sort of maybe really understood what my position and place in the world was like how fortunate I'd been up to that point and also how different the way I related to things as a result of that upbringing was then maybe like the majority of the rest of the world and how, you know, what privilege really was in that sense. Changed me a lot.
Adam:
[29:09] Well, it sounds like you had a, yeah, pretty sort of deep and meaningful experience in Kenya. You didn't just go on a safari for a few days.
Alun:
[29:16] I did do that as well. And seeing a wildebeest up close is cool.
Adam:
[29:21] Transformative. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, Kenya is a great answer, obviously, especially because it's not just a safari. Because you were with local people, because it was somewhere which I imagine is quite difficult to travel as a backpack, or it certainly was back then. There's no infrastructure, there's no support system, there's very few hostels, the foods, you know.
Alun:
[29:40] I think in truth, anywhere can be a really transformative experience if you have that kind of experience there.
Adam:
[29:47] Yes i think we'll remember you said that at the end okay because i think it's a very good thing that you've just said no it's not what i would have said right, okay but you're better at this than i am and probably less drunk just definitely um you think.
Alun:
[30:00] I'm less drunk than you yeah probably but you have a high tolerance for
Adam:
[30:02] Alcohol i do well that's we'll leave that for the page that's.
Alun:
[30:05] Patreon that why i said that in the patreon section
Adam:
[30:08] Um so here we are explored.co.uk right they ran a poll effectively it says, the top five reasons that left a lasting impression on them so they basically polled a load of people right on the most transformative life-changing experience they've had in another country and they've ranked all the countries, so the most people you know basically yeah if x amount of people said one country that goes in number one of.
Alun:
[30:34] The number of people surveyed yeah number one is the is the country that was mentioned the
Adam:
[30:39] Most yes exactly you've got it so top five reasons that left a lasting impression on them one finding courage on their own okay number two healing after difficulty, number three rejecting the pace of ordinary life number four a spiritual awakening and number five nature as a reset okay okay so this is the article i'll put a link in the description all that sort of stuff but it's, i i find it hard to take the article seriously so i'm sorry to say at the beginning Hopefully it doesn't sway you. To reveal the top destinations, we analysed over 1,500 comments from Reddit's most active travel communities, recording every unpromoted mention of a destination being described as life-changing or transformative. Of the 447 mentions recorded, Japan came out on top, with 47 meaning that more than 1 in 10 travellers who named a destination pointed to Japan above anywhere else in the world.
Alun:
[31:32] Can I just say, a big reason for that is because the kind of people who want to visit Japan are also the kind of people that post on Reddit. And that's a documented fact, I suppose.
Adam:
[31:45] Yeah. Right? Well, also, I think that many more people will have been to Japan than some other places.
Alun:
[31:52] Like perhaps Kenya.
Adam:
[31:53] Which could be more transformative and life-changing.
Alun:
[31:55] But also, the people that want to go to Japan are, a lot of them,
Adam:
[32:01] Nerds.
Alun:
[32:02] Yeah i think it's to say the n word look i think i think i think there's a there's a big cross section not everyone who visits japan is a nerd obviously but there's a there's an appealing thing about japan where nerds i myself am a nerd in a lot of ways they find japan appealing for nerdy stuff
Adam:
[32:22] In the same way that not all not all saki is nahonshu you know not all tourists that come to japan are nerds.
Alun:
[32:28] However but if you're a nerd you'll like japan there's a lot of pokemon and super mario and final fantasy and anime and that sort of thing yeah also most people who use reddit are a bit nerdy let's be honest if you've got an account on reddit and you're typing regularly maybe i do so it's not a criticism Maybe you're a bit of a nerd.
Adam:
[32:50] Maybe you're a bit of a nerd. Let me just read the top. Let's go. Let's quickly rip through the top 10.
Alun:
[32:55] Just rip through them. Yeah.
Adam:
[32:56] So number one, Japan with 47. Number two, India with 38. Yeah. For me, if India was number one, that makes sense. Yeah. Because it's mental.
Alun:
[33:06] I agree. Yeah. India's crazy. And also in the top five on my personal list, I would say.
Adam:
[33:12] Yeah. Number three, curveball, New Zealand.
Alun:
[33:17] How is it?
Adam:
[33:17] Yeah. Transformative. life-changing amazing this is a uk-based article nice time yeah it is yeah yeah yeah, i mean it's like basically going to some cornwall it's like yeah it's like new zealand's like rural england 40 years ago yeah um so that was, 35 that's.
Alun:
[33:36] A mad answer
Adam:
[33:37] Yeah number four thailand yeah.
Alun:
[33:39] I mean it is transformative in some
Adam:
[33:40] Ways yeah number five iceland 28 number six italy 26.
Alun:
[33:46] A lot of europe
Adam:
[33:47] Switzerland. Switzerland, then Peru.
Alun:
[33:49] Peru is a weird one to just throw in there. I think Peru is a good answer. Because that would be people who would hike the Salkantai Inca Trail and gone to Machu Picchu or something.
Adam:
[34:00] Yeah, or not. Or they went just to a nice restaurant in Lima.
Alun:
[34:03] But it doesn't matter that there's so much Europe in the top ten.
Adam:
[34:06] Yeah, that's why I think there's not a load of...
Alun:
[34:08] It's ludicrous.
Adam:
[34:10] And then Jordan, number nine. Number ten is Nepal.
Alun:
[34:12] Yeah, decent.
Adam:
[34:13] Kind of cool. 11 Colombia 12 Vietnam joint 12 with Tanzania so is that the first mention of an African first African one first African country and then 14 Morocco joint with Ireland, do you know what i mean so this is what they say about japan topping the list as the most life-changing destination is japan hyper-modern cities such as tokyo feel endlessly alive with neon lit streets and late night izakais traditional towns like takiyama encourage something slower a pace that makes you notice things you'd usually walk past beyond the cities travelers can lose themselves entirely whether that means wandering the ancient streets of kanazawa soaking in an onsen as snow falls outside or stumbling into a tiny restaurant with no english menu and having the best meal of their life the people are a highlight with travelers uh with many saying they experience the warmth that feels genuine for many the japanese way of life food and daily experiences are so different to home they experience culture shock in the best way.
Alun:
[35:08] There you go well um why don't we hop over to the patreon section and give our top five yeah countries which have changed us the most being the most transformative there's a link to the description in the description the show notes of this episode to patreon where we do bonus content after the episode and you can get in touch at TripologyPodcast.com In the next episode of Tripology me and Adam will not be in the same room. It will be a remote episode where we're zooming around all over planet Earth back to the classics where I talk, then he talks and I talk again.
Adam:
[35:43] And we hope you are as sad as we are because we might not see each other again in the same space for potentially a year.
Alun:
[35:50] Give us a cuddle.
Adam:
[35:50] Oh mate, mate.
Alun:
[35:52] Thanks for everything. Oh
Adam:
[35:53] Guys, we hope you've enjoyed it it's been wonderful um i hope you know the last sort of what seven or eight weeks of.
Alun:
[36:00] Episodes it's been yeah it's been a mad trip in which podcasting hasn't been the priority which has been a nice change of pace for us and our friendship but um it's been a lovely time keep on hanging out with us honestly if you're listening to this and you got this far come hang out with us in the patreon section it costs very very little it costs less than a one cup of sake so come meet over there we'll see you next week see you there um we bye just say
Adam:
[36:26] Bye just bye thanks ever so much guys love you to bits and we're drunk cheers.
