The next stop on my “Best Burgers of Austin” tour was Jewboy Burgers on Airport Blvd. I ordered “The Jewboy”, which is the basic cheeseburger, and I guess would be a good gauge of the burger menu. I loved it! The patty was grilled to perfection, with a bit of crisp on the edges. The potato bun was great, and the simple toppings of lettuce, pickle, and mustard let the flavor of the beef shine through. Really tasty!

I also ordered a side of crinkle-cut fries and latkes. The latkes were yummy, but the fries are what blew me away. They were perfectly crisp on the outside, yet creamy on the inside. These fries are maybe the best I’ve ever had! I don’t know if they are cut in the restaurant, or bought that way, but they really know how to deep fry them to perfection!

I’d rate the burger as an 8 out of 10, and the fries at a 10!

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I’ve decided to check out some of Austin’s best burgers and the first one on my list was from Lebowski’s Grill at Highland Lanes bowling alley. Mariko and I shared the Infusion with Bacon, and a Buffalo Dude (substituting crispy chicken instead of beef).

The burger was large and messy, with plenty of dripping from the grilled onions, peppers, and jalapeno ranch. It was delicious! The bun wasn’t anything special, and the beef pattie looked like it came pre-made from the factory, but the taste was good, and went well with the toppings.

The Buffalo Dude was even bigger than the burger, with a hefty piece of chicken dominating the sandwich. If you like buffalo sauce, you’ll love this sandwich. We felt that it was a litte too much, though. The chicken was pretty good… not dry, and flavorful.

The fries were good. Nothing special, but they didn’t detract from the burger & fries experience.

I’d give the burgers here a 6 out of 10. Pretty good, but perhaps not enough for a special trip. It would definitely level up a night of bowling, though!

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We went down to Congress Avenue Bridge to watch the bats fly off into the night sky. Unfortunately, the bats took flight when it was getting too dark, but we still had fun. I really enjoyed taking photos of the bridge while we were waiting for the bats.

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This morning I went with Kiki, my 2007 BMW F650 GS motorbike, on a ride to downtown Austin. I wanted to leave early to beat the traffic, but unfortunately got a late start at 9am. When we arrived downtown, there were so many cars. It’s no fun to be stuck in stop-and-go traffic on a motorcycle.

However, it was pretty cool to see so many people out and about having a good time. When I rode up Congress Avenue towards the capitol, I saw lots of tourists and it made me feel pretty good knowing they are visiting at the perfect time of year when the weather is not too hot. And of course us locals really enjoy it too!

I made a video of the ride, so if you have spare time, please watch (at the end of this blog post)

またね〜

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こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today we went for an early dinner at Loro. The restaurant is very popular, so we went early to beat the crowds and grab a table outside. Loro’s menu is kind of a mix of Asian and Texas BBQ, and everything we had was deeeelicious! Highly recommended if you are in Austin!

FYI, we’re still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with cases rising here in Texas, so we thought hard about going out to eat. But because we went early and Loro has plenty of outdoor seating, we though it was safe. Indeed, all staff was masked up (as we were, when not stuffing our faces) and they were cleaning tables regularly.

I hope you had a great day! またね～

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こんばんは。How’s it going?

My brother and sister-in-law were in town and one of the places they wanted to go was Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon to play chicken shit bingo. Mariko and I had never been there before so we were very interested in going and seeing what it was all about.

As you might have guessed from the name, it’s a game where a chicken is placed on a large bingo card, and the number he poops on determines the winning ticket. If you have one of the winning tickets, you get a share of the prize money. Surprisingly, my brother and sister won! We had no idea what the prize would be, but it turns out that it was a not insignificant amount of cash. What a score!

If you are in Austin, you should check out chicken shit bingo at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon. It’s a real Texas experience, with live music and two-step dancing, and buckets of Lone Star Beer. Lots of fun!

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

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Today Bay and I were at UT for a recruiting event, and after that was over we decided to check out the Blanton Museum of Art. Actually, Bay has been there twice before but this was my first time.

The Blanton Museum of Art is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, so if you are in town for an event, vacation, or touring UT, it’s super-convenient to visit. There’s a parking garage right next door, and it’s only $4 (with validation). Admission to the museum for me was $12 (adult), and just $5 for Bay (youth). If you are a UT student, the admission is free, and $5 if you are a student at another college. Oh, and admission is FREE on Thursdays!

I enjoyed the modern art of the permanent collection, but if you are used to the offerings in New York City or other large metropolises, you might be disappointed. Still, the space is top-notch and the temporary exhibition Words/Matter: Latin American Art and Language at the Blanton was really good. I really liked the wood print posters and their graphic style.

I took a few photos in the museum, and at the Ellsworth Kelly Austin installation. Enjoy!

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こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I dropped off my son and his friend downtown (Austin) so they could post some concert photos. And of course I had to stop by my favorite book store, BookPeople! It’s my favorite place to buy greeting cards and I needed to stock up on a few. But before that, I checked out my favorite section, which is Travel Memoirs. I love traveling so looking at all the cool destinations gets me excited! Where to go next?

What I love about BookPeople is that as an independent book store, they have the freedom to make staff recommendations (which are awesome) and also create their own displays. For instance, this incredible display:

Love it!

And then I had to browse the notebook section. I almost bought a Rhodia notebook, but then found these really nice (and affordable) Japanese notebooks. The staff recommendation said they are perfect for fountain pens, so I picked up these two notebooks:

The paper is nice and writing on the pages with a fountain pen is smooth and the ink looks great on it. I kind of regret starting my daily journal in the current notebook now… it’s too big! Will take me years to fill it up. I should use smaller notebooks so that I can try different ones. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and switch over, leaving all those pages in the old book blank.  But life’s too short to worry about those things, right?

I hope you had a nice Sunday!

おやすみ

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