Expanding Your Business? Too Many Fail Because They Don't Get the Right Partner!

So many people have a great idea or they run a successful small business that it seems a no-brainer that they should expand and make more money with their service or product.

But when they do expand, they find that it kills their business. Of course there are a myriad of reasons why expansion of business can kill off a good idea or a great business, but I think one of the most common and avoidable errors is that these people who decide to expand choose the wrong partners.


Specifically, they choose someone they like or can get along with over the right person for the job.

Let me give you a good example. I have a friend in Hollywood who is a music producer and he does great work. He tells me that he is always looking to expand and grow his business, but when he does, he fails. He is an artist and has a reputation for being a genius creative mind. He is frustrated at not being able to expand and make more money. He wrote to me for advice and wants to know how he can take what he does and make more money with it. 


Here is how I explained this to him:


You are an artist. You shouldn't be expected to do the business part of this stuff. You need a partner.

The problem? Say a guy runs a family Italian restaurant. He thinks about making it a chain. Who does he hire? A friend who is interested in Italian food.

Bad choice.

He should hire someone who doesn't give a hoot about Italian food, but only cares about running restaurants at a profit. This person doesn't (and shouldn't care) about what kind of food it is. That is the concern of the first partner.

The first partner, the artist or craftsman here, is concerned with taste, aroma and authenticity. Most probably he is a cook.

The cook needs at least a business man to handle the books and figure out ways to take the cash intake and turn it into profits. 

The mistake that almost all people make when they expand their business (and fail) is that they hire their friends or people of a like mindset. For example, the Italian food chef will hire another guy who loves to cook Italian food (you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen?)

The first partner hires their friends (who are artists or craftsmen like themselves) who are great for cooking food, but terrible for handling books and financing. And that's where they set themselves up for failure.

When people want to expand and succeed in their business, they need to hire people with a different skill set than themselves; not always "pals" or "yes men" or people of like minds.

Get it?

You need to find that sort of person.

So, in summation, if you are an artist, craftsman, cook, designer, musician, producer or creator, when you want to expand your business, hire a businessman who has a coldly objective view of your work. If you want to take that mom & pop hamburger stand you have and turn it into a chain restaurant, do not hire a craftsman, hire a businessman who knows how to run a restaurant.

There have been very few people in history who could do both the creative side of business and the "business side" of business... Off the top of my head, I can think of Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Steve Jobs...

You need a good partner. Find one. 

Frankfurt Schoolgirls - Celebrity Twist

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Music (Almost) Ruined My Life: Don't Let it Ruin Yours! Creative Work Can Be a Curse - Choose Your Career Carefully

Here I go quoting Confucius two days in a row: "Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."


Diana Ross also said something along the lines of, "You had better like the songs you sing, because you're going to be singing them for the rest of your life."

Know it. Learn it. Live it.

This post is about choosing your job, using music as an example. I use music because that is what I know best. It could also apply to food, design, cinema, or any of the so-called "Creative Arts." To paraphrase Diana; "You had better like the career you choose, because you're going to be doing it the rest of your life." 


Choose your career carefully. If I had know then, what I know today, I would have never chosen to work in music... Here's why...

These guys changed my life...

I've worked in music, in one capacity or another, since 1978. While I will say that, when I first started, I think I loved music, now I can definitively say that I don't really like music. I don't want to sugar-coat this. It's the truth. I can't really say that I hate music. But, perhaps like an old marriage that has grown cold tired and loveless (and sexless), I have no interest in music at all any more. The fire that was once there has grown cold and lifeless...There rarely comes along something that really piques my interest and makes me take notice. I blame the industry (but what person wants to blame themselves?)


I think the last well known things that really caught my eye were, Fatboy Slim, Suede, Sex Pistols and Punk, and David Bowie (in that reverse chronological order). Music today, like cinema today, is boring as hell.

He was the first to change my life...

All my life I've had a few very unusual talents. One is that, even though I can never remember anyone's name, I always remember their telephone number - or just about any number. I can remember numbers that are over eight digits long no problem in the world. I've been able to do that since I was a young boy. I can even remember, to this day, our family telephone number when I was 8 and living in Minnesota! I can also remember the lyrics of songs even if I have only heard them in passing on the radio a few times and even if I don't like them. I've also been able to do that since the mid-sixties when garage music was Top 40...


"You're pushing to hard, pushing to hard, pushing to hard on me.... Too hard..." Oh, trivia...


Seriously folks, I've always hated sobbing piano corporate trash like Billy Joel (showing my age here) but can still remember all the lyrics to a song like, say, "Uptown Girl" of which I've only been exposed to a few times and hated with a passion from the first time. Today, I can't say that I hate Lady Gaga (can't name a single song she has done), Madonna, Justin Beiber, whatever, and so on... (insert your favorite pop star's name here).... Because I've gotten to the point where I just don't care about them at all.


Most artists, if they have a clue, will want people to either love or hate them. People like me who don't care at all are their demise.

I cannot try go to sleep with any music on at all. I won't sleep. If music is on, as I try to sleep, the lyrics will pop into my head and I won't be able to sleep. Even songs I hate, I remember the lyrics. It is a serious ailment for which modern science has no cure, or even a name for. 


So, whenever I go to a restaurant or hear music, awake or when trying to sleep, I play a sort of "Name that Tune" in my head (Really, I can get most of them in 4 or 5 notes without a hint). It's maddening. So, if I try to sleep and music is on, my mind clicks into "Name that Tune" mode.. Then, if there is a song I don't know - well, forget sleeping for another hour or two. (And trust that I have a massive library of data stored in the noggin; from the 1940's until late 1990's.) 


I met a girl once who had a similar illness when it came to classical music. Since she studied classical piano since she was a 5-year-old girl and then practiced everyday, a few hours a day, and even went to a university and graduated with a degree in classical piano (?) If she hears classical music while trying to sleep, she sees the sheet music rolling past her head and will not be able to sleep.... 


Later on, that girl and I got married. She is my current wife. We don't listen to music at home unless we are having a party and guests are over.


Music has been a friend and a curse to both of us all our lives. 

Rodney Bingenheimer is a real DJ. Probably the last of a dying breed.

Rodney is real. I am a cheap Japanese copy.

I suppose I'd better give a short rundown on my "music history." I played in a 70s Los Angeles punk band. We were one-hit wonders. Supposedly, we sold a lot of records. Rodney Bingenheimer at world-famous KROQ in Los Angeles once told me that our song was the most requested song in the history of his radio program and that show has been on since 1974 or so. The band was shitty. But it was fun... Well, sorta...


If you've ever played in a band that had even minimal success then you know that playing in a band can be fun. It can be LOTS of fun... If you tour you know that touring can be fun but it, seems to me, usually is not. My band wasn't fun to be around because they were always fighting like poncy hairdressers.


After the band relieved itself, and the listening public, from its misery by breaking up, I carried records and cleaned toilets for people at a radio station. Later, in Japan, I began doing my own radio programs in 1986 or 87. My first radio show in Japan was for a station in Osaka... The station's name was Radio Kansai, can't remember the name of the show.

Typical radio Deejay with a face (and body) perfect for radio

Let me break here tell you about the "magical dream" - before the days of the Internet - that working at a radio station was. Back before 1990, radio was king. If you wanted to hear new music, the only place was radio. I had been a fan of radio since I was a little boy. My parents would have to drive to a place for my mother's work. The lady who owned the place was named Mrs. Snap. My parents would try to goad me into the 1 hour car ride to Mrs. Snap's office . I'd never want to go (even though she was a nice lady), but if they let me sit in front and zap the am radio tuner, I'd eagerly go. 


My brothers were such uncool turds that, even at the height of the sixties Brit Invasion, they didn't care. I loved it. I loved the music. I loved the radio. (In the sixties, punk was Top 40 - like the above mentioned Seeds song, "Pushin' Too Hard.")


Anyway, most people who love music want to be musicians. But few of us have any talent to speak of. Let's face it, I had none. None! Nein! Zip! Nada! Zero!... So, after my punk band, I fancied going into radio. In those days, before one joins a radio station, like little children at Christmas with images of toys dancing in their heads, newbies at radio think they will be hanging out with rock stars and getting hundreds of the new albums by the hottest artists all for free...


Well, the hanging out with rock stars part isn't true at all. Rock stars might come to the station but they'll rarely remember your face, name, who you are, or even that they were on your very same show just last year! And the stacks of free records and CDs you'll get? Sure. You'll get them. But they'll all be crap that you don't want. You'll just have bags of junk to carry home and have more sh*t to throw away on trash day!


Seriously, if you receive 100 albums from record labels, then out of that 100, only 1 might be good. That is unless, of course, you think Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber are good. Almost everything you get is corporate rock trash. Good new artists rarely have the money or the label backing to put out sample recordings to stations. And, in the 25 years of being the DJ, producer, song selector of some of the highest rated (alternative) music radio shows in Tokyo, I can honestly say that I have only met three promoters who did their jobs properly.


Think about it; I make a show that plays underground and alternative music only and some dumb promoter is putting Justin Beiber's newest CD in my mailbox and asking me to play it on my show? Gee. Thanks for taking the time to listen to my program. I'll make sure I play your songs after they fish the CD out of the river when I throw it out the window!!!!


Arrrggghhhhh!!!!!


Oh? Where was I? Oh yeah, I was complaining about how much radio and the music industry sucks and how, using this example, you need to choose your career carefully.


Let me also interject that the music business (and radio too) has a lot of low class, dishonest people in them. It's been my experience that these dishonest types are usually gone within 3 ~ 6 years, but, through some miracle, some of the really sneaky and dishonest ones hold on. I think it's because they've made a deal with the devil... Rock and roll and all that, ya know.

I've met lots of people who signed contracts with this dude. What for?

To be a musician or DeeJay on radio!? What? Are these people stupid?

I blew it in radio. Besides the above, how was I to know, in the mid eighties that the Internet was going to come along and ruin everything? I couldn't. I started a TV and radio production company in 1992 that focused on the niche market of alternative music (no one was doing that in Japan) and so the die was cast.


Today, the internet is king and no one listens to radio anymore and no one watches music TV. Why bother? You can just go to Youtube and see what you want, when you want it without having to sit through 20 minutes of crap you don't like.


Now? I never listen to music and, if I do, it is only for work. Like I said, I rarely hear things that I like (the things I do like, I play) and, when not at work, I enjoy silence.


We have no TV at my home and we have no large stereo. We have a small CD player that we use for background music when guests come over so it is turned on, perhaps, three or four times a year. At my house, silence is golden.


People ask me, "Mike! What kind of music do you like?" I usually answer, "I am a fair person. I hold all Pop music in equal disdain." If I do listen to "music for pleasure," I listen to the birds singing in the garden, the crash of the ocean waves, or, in the car, Mozart.

Real music: Mozart, birds singing, Pianistar Hiroshi (click the link, you gotta watch this guy! He's amazing!)

Some lovers of music might say that this is tragic and a waste. Perhaps. But I like to think of it more akin to what a professional chef would do at a famous French restaurant. I fact, one I know told me the following and it reminded me of how I am. He said,


"Mike, I enjoy my work. I cannot say I love cooking. I enjoy my work. When I am at home, my wife wants me to cook, but I cannot stand to cook when I am at home. When I am at home, I don't want to eat anything... It's much too much trouble..."


He then added;


"Mike, I like McDonald's hamburgers. I am amazed at how fast they can turn them out and they are all exactly the same."


Get it? He likes McDonald's hamburgers. Why? Not because of the taste but because, as a professional chef, he is fascinated by how they can churn out these products and each and every one is exactly the same as the others. This is a goal of all professional chefs at fine restaurants.


Maybe he does like the taste. But I don't think that's what intrigues him; he likes the technique. He doesn't really "taste" the product. If he really tasted McDonald's hamburgers, he certainly wouldn't like them (But, then again, who knows? Some people might like eating chemicals and salt). 

McDonald's vs. Lobster? Hmmmm.... Tough choice, eh?

It's the same with me. I don't really "taste" the music anymore. I judge it by a certain level of quality, melody, and, I think, "Can I use this for my show or not?" That's it.


If this is tragic, then so be it. 


It think it is what it is and it is the fact that I enjoy my job. I cannot honestly say that I love music.


Had I known then what I know today, I would have chosen a different career.

Music isn't a hugely profitable career. There's not much upside. And there are a lot of dishonest sneaky people. Even though I cannot complain and can say that I don't really feel that I've ever worked "hard," (hard work is chopping down trees or working in construction, etc.) I could have made twice as much money in a different career had I made that decision long ago.

As it is, I am fading out music now. I started to do so at age 52. It's not too late.

But there is a lesson here for everyone: If people read this and can really understand what this is all about then, it's not sad, it is actually what makes a professional. Passion is always important, but having a detached, discerning eye is of utmost importance to the successful business man or woman. 


Have a discerning eye. Use good judgement. Choose your career well. 

Pianistar Hiroshi - Bohemian Rhapsody

Watch this. This is awesome!

NOTE: You can see a weekly Top 5 of music videos that I like here at George Williams's site (www.georgewilliams.jp). George and I pick these songs every week: http://www.georgewilliams.jp/wp/category/ranking/ 




Thanks to Allison Sayne

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Using iPad's Instead of Waitresses Taking Orders With Old Fashioned Menus is Often a VERY Bad Idea!

On the last day of 2011, the family went to our favorite sushi restaurant located in Isehara. Isehara is an hour away from our home by car so we get to go to this restaurant about twice a year when visiting my wife's parents. The place is delicious.

Even though this sushi-ya easily sits about 150 people, it is almost always packed. If you go there for dinner, as we often do, you'd better get there before 5:15 or you can expect to have to wait for an hour or more to be seated. After 6:30 pm until 9 pm? Don't even bother. We did that once. Never again. 


We get there early or we don't go.


On New Year's Eve, we arrived just at opening time and comfortably sat down. I expected a massive rush of folks to enter the restaurant soon after; like has happened every year for the past 5 or 6 years. But it didn't happen. In fact, when we left the restaurant there were several empty tables and no one was waiting to be seated.


"What happened?" I thought. "What has changed?" The food was just as delicious and just as reasonably priced as before, but something was different. 


I thought about it. It was readily recognizable upon entry to the restaurant. It seemed the place had lost some of its zip, "freshness" and vitality... It wasn't the same talkative and friendly shop as before.


Why? How could that have happened? The staff were all the same so management didn't change. What could it be?


After thinking about it for a moment, I concluded that it was point-of-sale iPad devices on all the tables for the purpose of allowing customers to place their own orders. I think this was the key (and a huge mistake) in destroying atmosphere and the good feeling one gets when experiencing a restaurant that relies heavily on human interaction like a sushi shop does.

With the rise of the Internet and the bursting on the scene of the iPad and few years ago and the copy-cats that have all followed, many businesses look to this sort of technology to save them in times of an aching economy. I think far too many businesses are making a huge mistake and looking for love in all the wrong places.

If you are considering using an iPad or like technology to increase your businesses profitability then I strongly suggest that you first always consider this point: It's awful hard to beat a pencil and paper. Is using technology going to be faster and more beneficial to your business?

I think, in many cases I've seen, it is actually a detriment. 

In many cases, far too many to be sure, using an iPad to allow customers input their own orders, especially in the case of better restaurants is a very bad idea. Here's why....

Think about this: is your restaurant the type of business that is highly dependent on communicating with customers? If it is, then iPad point of sale software is not for you.

Fujimaru in Isehara. Food is great. Ordering system not.

Here's a good example: Take a Denny's-type of restaurant. It is cheap and the menu doesn't, nor is it expected to, change often. People often go to Denny's to burn up time, read a book or to drink coffee while completing some work. They are not there to talk with the waitress. Compare that with a good sushi restaurant whose menu might change daily depending on the catch of the day or one that has a friendly chef who knows the value of talking to customers and communicating. How valuable is it when a customer can ask, "What do you recommend?" The sushi chef smiles and replies....

Also, as I mentioned, is communication important between your restaurant staff and customers? If you have a bar-type of establishment where people, often alone by themselves, come up to the bar to sit and order, then this type of iPad ordering is definitely not for you. Whenever I go this type of establishment, I go there for fun, conversation and comfort. I want to talk to the bartender (or sushi chef or head waiter) who I probably know and have a friendly relationship with (in the case of drinkers this would be called, a "brotherhood" or "confidant"). 

Think about that. Drinks are basically the same from one establishment to another. What makes one bar better than the other? (They used to call sushi restaurants "sushi bars"). In the example of drinks, the difference is ambiance and the bartender and staff. In the case of sushi, I might want to ask the sushi chef what he recommends as the freshest for the day.

The use of an iPad sort of device for customers to place their own orders at a restaurant must definitely serve to better the user/customer experience at the restaurant. It must also speed the process up, not slow it down. Think about that also, at a fine French or Italian restaurant, would you think the customer would be happy with tapping on an iPad to order? What about showing off to the friend or girlfriend that this customer is a regular and knows the staff by name? Using a iPad for ordering at a Denny's or McDonald's? Probably a resounding, "Yes!" Cordon Bleu or a "Top 50 restaurant in New York City?" Absolutely Not!  

No matter how much I love iPad, they would never enhance the experience at a top class restaurant. Also, the utter idea that people can play games online while waiting for their dish to come to their table is absurd, unless, of course, as I said, you are targeting a lower income (and single) audience. I seriously doubt that if I were on a date, I'd take a girl to a place where, while waiting for drinks or food, we'd be playing some online games.

What a awful date and terrible experience that would be.  

Communicating with a sushi chef is fun. Why degrade the experience?

That's the key word here: Experience. If the placement of iPad point of sale menu ordering device does nothing to damage the experience, then I think they might be a good idea (I said, 'might') but when a service organization (keyword: service) implements this sort of device and makes their 'service' less personal and colder, they are making a big mistake.


Finally, as I thought about all these things as we were about to get up from the table to leave the sushi restaurant, I (like I usually do) thought, "I'd like to have just one more sushi for the road." I looked at the iPad and thought, "Forget it. Too much trouble." Think about this one too. The sushi chef is standing five feet away from me on my left. If I say, "Maguro kudasai!" (Tuna, please!) that takes about 0.5 seconds. If I have to use the iPad for ordering (which he asked me to do) I have to pick it up; tap food menu; find sushi; rolls or nigiri? Then I have to tap the order... By the way, I like extra wasabi, but can't find where that is located on the iPad? I've spent 6 seconds tapping and trying to find what I want to order. Do I order the last one for the road? Nope.


I'll bet many people have thought the same thing. How much money in sales did that establishment lose from people just like me who thought the same thing?..."I want an extra order, but the hassle isn't worth it for one. Forget it." And I even own an iPad and am pretty well versed in using one. But that doesn't matter, it's not the iPod exactly that's the problem, it's the software too and a huge menu that Christopher Columbus couldn't find on a map!!! Think about that! Especially at a restaurant (like a fine restaurant or sushi shop) that is not cheap and has a large portion of their customers near 55-years-old or older... An audience who has the disposable money to spend on some of the finer things... Older people of which most have never touched an iPad in their life. Will they make that last minute compulsive/impulsive order? I don't think so... Heck, it's a hassle and they can't figure out how to do it. 


It takes 0.5 seconds to make a verbal order. Using the iPad takes time (and patience)... Not a pleasant experience. It's a hassle.


You've got a serious problem if people think ordering your product is a hassle.


As an aside, nearly 10% of the US population has compulsive buying complex Oniomania (for better or worse). I'm sure the Japanese are just as bad if not worse... If you are a business owner (and not a psychiatrist) then you need all the sales you can get. Using devices that suppress compulsive or impulse buying or ordering (especially when people are drinking and having fun) seems foolish to me. But, like I said, there might be good applications, it's just that I am not intelligent enough to see them, I suppose.


Here's how I calculate it: If one plate of sushi costs $3; And some part timer gets paid $8 an hour; and the restaurant has 150 seats and turns them over once every 1.5 hours; and, say, 15 (10%) of those people might have impulsively bought one last plate of sushi, then I don't see how utilizing this iPad ordering device saves me any money in lowering labor costs. I just lost $37 every 1.5 hours. Of course, this is a very rough estimate but I think estimates and judgements like this are very important.


As I walked out the door and looked at the empty tables, I wondered if the customers who used to come to this restaurant went to another shop? Another shop where they can talk and interact the old fashioned way (when it comes to food when is the "old fashioned way" not the best way?) better with someone who smiles at them and communicates with them so that they don't have to feel so lonely; they can have more and fun... Conversation with a waiter or waitress or chef can also be a very fun and beneficial thing.


What's the price tag on warmth, communication and laughter? Of course, with the iPad ordering, at this shop, there are still waiters and chefs and you can talk to them. But when I wanted to order, they hurried by and said,


"Please place your order using the ordering device on the table." What's the cost of that?


Thanks, but no thanks. I noticed that I felt a little betrayed and uncared for. Here we knew these sushi chefs and waiters, for years, yet they told us every time to order using the iPads....  I did talk with one of the waiters who knows us well and even he alluded to much staff dissatisfaction with the new rules on ordering.


In my case, the experience was lowered. My wife concurred. In the case of my in-laws (in their 70's) they didn't like it at all. My eight year old son thought it was cool... Too bad he is not the one who pays for the food. 

Romantic? Good atmosphere? Stylish? You be the judge

I think, in the case of a sushi shop, if they are going to use this type of device to take orders for sushi, then they might as well have robots making the sushi too.


Remember that it is hard to beat a pencil and paper for speed and human communication is priceless and irreplaceable. iPads are awesome devices when used for what they were designed for. I can't see how using an iPad for ordering at a restaurant that has a constantly changing menu or several dozen (even one hundred) items on the menu can enhance the user (customer) experience. If there are many items on the menu, it makes navigating the menu difficult. Imagine what it does to a first time customer? I think it makes sure they are not repeat customers.


I might be able to see the benefits if the restaurant only has a dozen or two items on the menu... But, then again, if the restaurant only has a few dozen items to order, why bother?


I think restaurateurs need to think long and hard about putting this kind of technology in their restaurants. Generally speaking, I can't see how it cuts costs or increases profits.


Placing a square peg in a round hole has never been a good idea. Use the right tools for the right job.

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Dinner at Patok sa Manok Restaurant in Davao City

It's been quite long since hubby and me have brought Keona out for a stroll. We have been busy lately for some priorities and time adjustments and so last weekend, we decided to bond together with our little girl. We first had our lunch at Jollibee then off we went to SM City to witness the cyber expo there. Unfortunately, the crowd are so huge that we were not able to really get closer to the stage at the event center and just roam around the mall. Keona had fun playing on the toy car display and the salesperson assigned in the area was so kind to let Keona play with it. We then chose clothes for her and we were able to buy one.

On our way home, we dropped by a restaurant and eat there. It is located in Lanang Davao city, just near Davao Insular Hotel entrance. It was not a peak hour so Keona was very carefree roaming around the place as if it's hers.hehehe

Sharing to you some photos:

Front of the restaurant

our table with foods served

3 orders of rice

lechon kawali

kinilaw

inside the restaurant

We actually frequent this restaurant because they offer a wide array of foods and the taste is really delicious. Sometimes, we just take out our order. My FIL's favorite in this restaurant are the kare-kare, kinilaw and milkfish. It was really a delight dining at this restaurant. They also accept deliveries. Have a nice day friends.

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The Worst Restaurant in All of Eastern Asia or the Entire World?

You know, it's pretty hard, nearly impossible, to be the very best. Many strive for it, few can accomplish it. Being the best takes years of arduous effort, determination and talent. Our society glorifies the best, as we should. It must be wonderful to be called the "best."

Professional male model Ken Nishikawa posing in front

of "the worst restaurant in Eastern Asia"

But what about the worst? You know, if you really stop to think about it, it is pretty darned hard to be the worst too. I mean, thee worst. The epitome of awful. The dungest of the dungheap. The absolute pits. A real shister-meister!


Like the best, it takes a real effort and a special "talent" to be the worst. But I think I found one example of the worst. Oh yes. And today, I submit to you a restaurant that I vote for the "Worst restaurant in Japan!"


I believe that I have found the worst ramen restaurant in all of Japan. Possibly the worst restaurant in all of Asia. Nay! This could be the very worst restaurant in the entire free world.

This is the worst run hotel in all of Western Europe! 

Funny thing is, even though I walked in to take these fine gravures that are eye-candy to even the most passive observer, I have never eaten at this restaurant. I don't think I have to. Just by looking at it, I can imagine the taste of the establishment's fine fare. In fact, I'll bet that, after reading this article, you won't have to go to the restaurant to see for yourself either. I'll bet nearly everyone will agree that this place must be the dregs.

I wonder if those are wax displays?

If you ever go to Shibuya station on the platform heading towards Shinjuku, towards the rear of the train, you'll see a restaurant called "Donbei"(どん浜街). "Don" means "bowl". "Bei" is an old word from the Edo period that doesn't really mean anything. It's like the "ko" in girls names. "Bei" is a friendly name for something that is for "regular people."


The part that is so "special" about this restaurant is that "Donbei" is actually the name for an instant ramen product. Yeah, that's it. You know, like in instant ramen that you just pour hot water into.

I always look for an immaculate kitchen. Usually the 

sign of a great restaurant... But there are exceptions.

And that's the "appeal" of Donbei. Because that's what Donbei serves: Instant ramen. Just like the same stuff you buy at the convenience store excepting that this fine eatery, they pour the hot water into the Styrofoam container for you! Then they pour it into a proper bowl so that, ostensibly, it will "taste better."


Ummmm. I can smell it now! Piping hot water into the instant ramen Styrofoam container. Let it steep for one minute and you've got a real meal right there!

This place has been packed with customers

every time I've been by... Oh look! There's one now!

Ugh! Now, like I said, I've never eaten at this place and doubt that I ever will. Instant food like this is poison. I'll bet that their secret formula can even be worse for your health than that other fine eatery you westerners have, what's it called, "McDonald's"?


Wow! This article is making me hungry and looking at these pictures of this fine repast make my mouth water. 


Anyhow, you've been forewarned. The worst restaurant in Japan has been located and it is probably a safe bet that, just like the Fukushima nuclear reactors, you should probably keep a safe distance away. 

Notice the line of people waiting for a table!

But, then again, maybe you should go there and eat it at least once. It's not everyday that you can say that you've eaten at the worst restaurant in the entire free world. And, if you do eat there, it might just make you appreciate the fact that there are many other places that are crappy too.... But never as crappy as this. After all, you only live once. Eating at Donbei might just make you appreciate life a bit more.

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Golden Brown Restaurant

Me and my hubby celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary with a lunch date at Golden Brown Restaurant at Ilustre Street, Davao City last December 28, 2010. I would have wanted us to have our date at a restaurant somewhere in Ecoland but it's just too far away. So when we decided that we have to eat just near the downtown area, Golden Brown right away comes to my mind.

We used to frequently eat at Golden Brown when me and hubby were still dating since it is just very accessible to where we usually shop or stroll. I also love their foods and the ambiance is very cozy. The very efficient and approachable waiters is also a big plus when dining at this restaurant.

As usual, hubby ordered his favorite kinilaw while I ordered lechon kawali (deep fried pork belly). We arrived there at around 11:00 o'clock in the morning and we are the first customer. I asked the waiter if I can take photos and he flashed his big smile nodding, saying yes.

Here are some photos I took:

signage in front

the waiter serving us

at the side of the restaurant

inside the restaurant

our order...lechon kawali

and hubby's fave kinilaw

They also have a merienda (snack) buffet available from 2:00 - 6:00 o'clock in the afternoon. The cost is only 85 pesos but look at the buffet table and some few foods already served. It's a heavy snack! Yes, we have tried it before and it's really worth the 85 pesos you'll spend, given the plenty choices of foods they serve.

this is the merienda buffet table and a few foods already served. Only few yet because that was only 11:00 o'clock in the morning and their snack buffet starts at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon.

Here are a list of some of the Golden Brown specialties:

• Lechon manok (roasted chicken)
• pork liempo
• Bicol express
• Kalderetang baka
• sweet & sour fish
• sweet & sour pork
• lumpia chin chin
• beef steak
• pinakbet
• crab omellette
• kilawing kambing
• boneless bangus

The appetizers:

• spicy chicken skin
• kinilaw malasugue
• calamares
• lechon kawali
• sizzling sisig

Noodles:

• satemi
• lomi
• crab lomi
• fish lomi
• bam - e
• pancit bihon
• pancit guisado
• pancit canton
• sotanghon

Soup:

• bulalo soup
  
• corn soup
• sinigang na lapu-lapu
• sinigang baboy
• sinigang hipon
• sotanghon soup

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for orders or delivery :
tel. # 227-6464

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A Nice Place to Relax from the Hassle of Work

We have been busy on our work in order to survive and meet the needs of our family and our selves. But sometimes we do forget to stop and take a breather from all this. Our body needs a little time to rest too you know. I tried looking for some place to relax and found one at the net. The place can be found 4 kilometers from Gaiole in Chianti, the place is or to be precise a hotel named Hotel Le Pozze di Lecchi is what I'm talking about. The place got one heck of a swimming pool, spa, wine shop, and a restaurant. Check this place out and I'm sure you'll like it.

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Indulge at Rai Rai Ken

Rai Rai Ken at Robinson's

The menu

waiting for our order

Gomuku (mixed seafoods with hard-boiled egg)

yummy strawberry shake

the smiling and beauteous waitress clad in Japanese attire:)

the place, cozy and comfortable

Being a breastfeeding mom, I really love soup. It does not only give warmth to my tummy but also increases my milk production, as what I have observed:). This is a rather late post because this food trip happened a month ago, when me and hubby were looking for Keona's elusive milk, Nan 3 HW. I say elusive because we have already visited a lot of department stores, literally from north to south - SM mall, GS Mall, Gaisano Mall, Victoria Plaza, Robinson's including major drugstores but it's not available (update: it is now available in leading supermarkets and drugstores). When we reached Robinsons Department store, we were already very hungry so we decided to have our snack at Rai Rai Ken, just within Robinson's area because I know they have yummy soup and the restaurant is not crowded with people.

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