I'm Lovin It

Jack in the Box's seasoned curly fries are delicious, I think those would be one of the first things I would miss if I were to move to Japan.

I think it'd be more fun to just jab your finger into the air and keep repeating, "Kore kore kore kore."

Okay, maybe only once.

One thing I did like about McD in Japan they actually have a law that says: What you see is what you get.

Finally a burger that didn't look mutated

here in singapore, we can already see the difference in sizes between McDonald's (very much localized) & Burger King. Obviously the latter has bigger portions.

Is it any wonder that the last time BK had the DOUBLE WHOPPER (and we thought the Whopper is huge!), it lasted only a mere couple of months before it's being taken down the list?

ugh, I never want to give in. Theres a McDonalds right downtown, but I usually walk past with averted eyes... perhaps in a few months, though... my host sister thought that the clown's name was 'donald mcdonald' and was surprised that it wasn't. I love that analogy of the ultraman size cup, i wish i had thought to bring one with me.

I love going to american resturants in different cities. I lived in India for a while, and McDonald's there was amazing...as cheap as the typical Indian resturant, but sparkling clean and air conditioned. And the shakes tasted the way they were supposed to!
Of course, there's no such thing as 'big macs' in India because they can't eat beef--and when they tried to serve it with goat meat instead a Hindu sued them because of the sign saying "We do not serve beef"--saying that it was like saying beef was OK to eat. I love Indian logic sometimes.

I ventured in to a McD once in the year I was in Tokyo. I had a coke and some fries as I was early for a class and was craving salt. Ergh. Just as nasty as they are at home but so much cheaper!

Do they still have the free smiles on the menu? A friend of mine ordered 3 smiles after ordering his food and the girl really gave him 3 (cute)smiles, nodding her head sideways a little bit at every smile. This was a couple years ago though. And is it only me or does McD really taste better in Japan?

yeah, china's got the same sort of thing too. We have what we call the "power-trio" of fast food: McDonalds Pizza Hut, and KFC. Now Pizza Hut I have to say is one of the nicest restaurants around, which is wierd to say the least. Plus when your drunk at two am, McDonalds looks reeeealy good.

Mercilessly crushed burgers in the US are the result of the final step in the burger-making process: the Gaijin Ass-Press. Yes, folks, the last thing you do, right after wrapping up that beautiful, picturesque burger, is sit on it. Of course, they do the same thing at all McDonaldses all around the world, but the meager Japanese ass is no match for the mighty American ass.

I remeber the free Smiles on the menu too!, but i didnt ask for them :(
What is smile in Japanese?

Teriyaki burgers are sooooo good. Argh, now I'm hungry.

Those little tiny milkshakes they do for 50 yen are great in the summer, too. Just right if you want something sweet and cooling. However, it must be observed that it takes several weeks for an uninitiated gaijin to be able to say, 'Mirukusheiku'.

How *silly* of them to assume that an American-looking guy does read English and doesn't read Japanese, *especially* in a place like Kyoto where tourists never venture.

They might see 100 "English-speaking-looking" people in a week, and likely 98 of them speak no Japanese. So their reaction is derived from experience, not the thought that you're a moron.

It used to offend me, too, but I got over it, realizing that it's either a kindness or simply their batting average. Actually, I probably got over it because I stopped feeling that I had something to prove every time I went out. I'm more than happy now to not speak Japanese if someone want's to converse in English. You probably haven't been here long enough to attain that level of self-confidence, but it will come.....

Yes, but if you were working in McDonalds in America, and you saw an "Asian-looking person" stroll up to the register, would you automatically pull out a Japanese menu?

Your first impulse would be to say "But that's different" ...is it really that different?

Couldn't they at least wait for us to ask for an English menu first? Or at least look puzzled and confused?

There's the batting averages thing, yes, but it seems like you've never had people that have known and worked with you for YEARS question your Japanese ability over a very simple task. Now that gets to be annoying, no matter how much cultural understanding you try to extend.

Smile is sumairu in Japanese, so basically the same. Two more things, in Japanese McD's it seems you never get burgers or fries that have been prepared like more than a few split seconds before they give it to you, while over here in Europe you never know how long ago your burger or fries might have been prepared and as Az mentioned in what state you'll receive them. And they never forget to bring your order to your table when they have to, so you won't have to go all the way down after you finally found a seat on de 3rd floor to get your burger and convince them you actually ordered it. BTW the shrimp burger is actually quite good for those who are not allergic.

Actually, "sumairu" is just another one of those English words that the Japanese have adopted for who knows what reason. The French are trying to remove English from their language (sort of like the "freedom fries" eyeroll) while the Japanese move closer and closer to speaking English with Japanese grammar.

"hohoemi" is one Japanese word for smile (the noun form of "hohoemu"), and I believe "egao" is similar.

Last time I was in Japan, I got a teriyaki & egg burger at McD's. It had a teriyaki burger pattie, an egg, like in a McMuffin or something, and sauce. It was quite tasty. By the way, Az, I have a fish allergy too. Interestingly enough though, whatever chemical my body doesn't like is created when the fish is cooked. I can eat raw fish just fine, even if the same type of fish gives me a reaction when it's cooked.

I ate at McDonald's more than once in the two weeks I spend in Japan. I too can't eat fish and it really makes it hard over there. Seafood is such a huge part of the Japanese diet that telling them you can't eat fish is practically tantamount to telling them you're allergic to water.

I never knew about the flip menu. I went to three different McDonalds in Japan, in three different cities (It's not that I'm addicted to McDonald's or anything, it was usually because I was in a rush or I needed a place to sit down or I wasn't in a good enough mood to take my chances ordering something tradiditional) and none of them had the flip menu or if they did, they didn't flip it. I mean, it was pretty easy ordering in Japanese anyway, even with my limited Japanese skills. And like you said, it probably wouldn't of helped anyway (at the one at the Hiroshima train station, it was obvious that NOBODY working there knew English. The "Oh shit..." look the cashier made as about 8 of us walked in was pricelss).

And as CKX said, they really do make everything right after you order it. I was with two other people, and all we ordered was the 100 yen small fries, and they actually brought them out to us. And they were hot!

And in addition to the Shrimp Burger, if you order the 6 piece chicken nuggets meal, you get 3 chicken nuggets and 3 shrimp nuggets.

You're joking aren't you...?

It's not just Japan which is smaller than the USA.

In England, where a third of the population is officially "overweight", the cups and fries are MUCH smaller than America.

You get a litre for supersize right? Or a gallon? Or a fucking Atlantic Ocean?

We had a Japanese artist-in-residence at my school this October, from Osaka. She was describing to me how she went through the drive-thru at Local McDonald's one afternoon.

Yumiko: Hello, I would like a teriyaki burger prease.
Drive-thru cashier: Whuuuuuuuuuuut?
Yumiko: ?? A teriyaki burger prease?
Drive-thru: ... Whuuuuuuuut?

Yumiko's impression of this "whuuuuut" was positively amazing. She made the best "stupid American cow" face I've ever seen. Slack jawed and everything. I pretty much died laughing.

She told me "I didn't realize that teriyaki burger doesn't exist here... yes, it's very good... I miss it."
LOL.

''Yes, but if you were working in McDonalds in America, and you saw an "Asian-looking person" stroll up to the register, would you automatically pull out a Japanese menu?''

How is that even related?
1- Even if the asian-looking person did not speak english, why would you look for the JAPANESE MENU? There are a lot more chinese and other asians than japanese people in america. So why would you assume the person is japanese if there is a bigger chance that she's chinese?

2- Most asians in america speak english while most foreigners in Japan don't speak japanese.
When most foreigners will speak japanese they will stop assuming that most foreigners can't speak japanese. It's simple really.

3- English is the international language, almost all foreigners in Japan speak english, no matter if they are french, german, russian, italian, etc. So it is correct to bring out the english menu if they are not japanese looking because they most likely will be able to read it while only a tiiiiiny proportion of them will be able to read the japanese menu.

''Couldn't they at least wait for us to ask for an English menu first? Or at least look puzzled and confused?''

That would be great but they will be asked for the english menu 98% of the time. They waste less time by just fliping the menu upon seeing you.

I could never eat McDonalds it makes me physically ill. Even at a good one. Burger King isnt much better and forget about Hardees...BLEH Im not allergic to fish but im not a fan of them ether. Why eat something that tastes like the bottom of a lake bed or a bait shop?

Me: With free refills.
Class of 30 Japanese kids: *heads simultaneously explode*

simply great....
hahahaha
i must leave boring ass germany...
but 1st i have to learn a 3rd language...

I still remember briefly stopping by a McDonald's near our hotel in Paris. (It was late and the McD's was the only place open that I knew of.)

Their featured items were Castillian-themed foods. So I got Spanish-style food from a French installment of an American restaurant.

I have never felt so multicultural.

(Yeah, I already posted once. Sue me.)

Things are just different in other countries than they are here. I work in Starbucks in Breezewood, one of the largest travel centers in the north east. We get people who look like they might end up speaking a foriegn language all the time, but we don't flip over a menu written in the suspect language every time.
Why? Because this is America and if they can't speak English Fuck em! They can damn well pantomime, pissing off everyone in the store and then leaving with thier head hung in shame. =)

Ha ha ha...I remember my McD excursion. I ordered the chicken nuggets to spite the bird flu scare. I ate four of my nuggets, then bit into my fifth...And got a mouth-full of shrimp. I'm not allergic to seafood, but my mom is, so I never developed a taste for it. Suffice to say, I was grossed out.
And I had Wendy's, which was better in Japan, in my opinion, plus there was a japanese guy who was literally seven feet tall. It was awesome.
And the KFC chicken isn't prepared the same, it's more tempura style than anything.

Yea I have fish alergies to everything but Shrimp. But anyways, what I wanted to say, this story actually reminds me of when I went to McD's in Mexico. It had been 2 years since I'd been to a McD's but this time I was in Mexico, and shity Mexican quizine had make me hunger to clog up some arteries. So once my friends and I had enough of it we went to McD's and ordered some Big Macs. I was never so happy to have had McD's in my entire life. What was good about it was that they had a condiments section with Jalepños and all that good stuff. It was made quite well I must say, especially with the Jalepeños.

I still got a kick though, from when I spoke perfect English with my friends and then switched immediatly to perfect spoken Spanish to order my meal. Their faces were priceless!

I made the fatal mistake of checking this site during class today. I was in the middle of Civics this morning, and a lot of the girls at my high school bring laptops to take notes. I, however, had gotten one of my friends to email me the notes beforehand, so it gave me the opprotunity to whip out my laptop and put the school's wireless internet to good use. I came here after checking some email, and scrolled down. What did I find? "Original Content!" I thought with glee, "Boy Howdy!"
It was when I reached the part about the "menu flip that I lost my control.

Friend: (In Japanese) This'll be to go. I'll have a Big Mac ...
Cashier: Hold on a second... (heaving at the menu)
[[Me: *Smile* Heh heh...]]
Friend: (In Japanese) Make that a value meal. Coke for the drink please.
Cashier: (Still heaving) Hungh...ermph...one moment please...
[[Me: *smile gets bigger- covers mouth to stifle laughter* Hee hee hee!]]
Friend: Are you listening to me?
Cashier: There's an English menu, if only you would let me flip it over...
Friend: I'm speaking to you in Japanese, why aren't you listening...
[[Me: *SNORT* BWAHAHAHAAAA!!]]

EVERYONE in my class turned to look at me. The teacher just had this look of complete horror on her face. I didn't really get in trouble, but I knew I was on thin ice, so I paid attention from then on. At least, I WAS paying attention, until I got about 9 Instant Messages from different classmates reading, "What were you looking at? What was so funny?"

I told them all about it. Congratulations, Az. I got my whole Civics class into your website.

i recommend the shrimp filet burger whole-heartedly

haha, I've also experienced the same thing in the japanese McD's resturants: they always flipped the menu in order to make it easier to order. but I always politely said that I am not from an English speaking country (true, I am from Sweden) and thus doesn't speak english (which is quite false), so if they could flip it back then I'd be most grateful. it almost always works. just once have it failed, and the cashier tried to speak in english all the time, mostly becuase my swedish friends had ordered in english way ahead of me.

but they do look surprised to say the least when I perform it on them. funny thing is that our japanese language techers back home in Sweden didn't know that McD offered english menues when we had the "going to McD" exercise just last week.

and I've got to say that japanese McD are way ahead of our swedish counterpart. ours are sloppy quite tasteless burgers. the japanese ones are the counterpart, and they only cust half as much.
(a menu in Sweden is about 60 crones, or US$9 at the moment)

az-- c'mon man, you know japanese people don't work like that. give someone the benefit of the doubt? you know the score:

- you dont speak japanese
- you have sex with hundreds of japanese women, who you pick up simply by making eye contact
- you're an incredible athlete and anytime you pick up a ball or a racket people stop to look
- you've shot someone
- you will never be able to attain the dexterity necessary to use chopsticks (and if you are, you will be praised by individuals who have seen you use them 100 times)
- "nihonshoku tabereru?" (no. i am unable.)
- etc

(and on an unrelated note, people will remind you of the air temperature (or something else completely obvious) every 3 seconds.)

spot on about the McDs. i lasted 5 or so months the first time i was here. to all americans: just do it. eat it. you wont regret it. even tho everyone in the restaurant will be thinking, "ah, yes, an american. clearly s/he is incapable of consuming our food."

I toured around the baltic for about a month and for convience sake, because OMG it takes forever in reasturants, the kathup was different it tasted more like a BBQ sauce and less greasy but portions were similair. And it was still all messy like ours *I guess big Communist ass works similair to Americans*

I was in Australia last year and we went to McDonalds 2 or 3 times. Their Mcdonalds not only sells quality subs and cook their burgers so they are less in calories, but every McDonalds in Australia has an attached coffie cafe that has a fine selection of cakes for sale. And I don't mean something like hostess, I mean actual slices of cakes on display.

So my question is... Why the hell don't we have that? I mean, didn't McDonalds start in America? How come the best that McDonalds has to offer can only be found over seas?

That article just made me spit my soda on my laptop. Good job.

But one thing.. please answer this: What's the Japanese's obsession with eggs in hamburgers?

When i worked at a McDonalds in NJ i never had someone that didnt speak enough english to order something off the menu. Most of time tho we get people that automatically know what they want. The hardest thing when working there was the drive-through and with a heavy accented person going through it is quite a trip.

I then worked in a grocery store and i have had people that didnt speak a lick of english. From french to german to chinese to spanish to greek to mute/deaf's. I never had much of a problem helping them because most of the time you can read their body language. The hardest one i have ever done was spanish speakers for some reason? Got me.

Uh, I know of people here in the states who put eggs in their big-bottom hamburgers in order to keep the meat from falling apart in the pan.

Az, that article was hi-ho-freakin'-larious.

Im from Australia.

After Supersize me came out Michael D's in Aus started bringing out Deli choice rolls and salads and stuff. The McCafe (Cakes, coffees etc etc) all came out a bit after I think cause everyone thought it was so bogan (white trash) to go to Maccas.

These changes made it a bit more acceptable, and a fair bit healthier to eat at Maccas.

You still open a burger box and find the contents looking like they took part in a car crash.

Good work Az

The basic problem with the menu flip is this - before I have even opened my mouth or done anything, just from a first glance Japanese people have already assumed at least two things about me - that I speak English, and that I don't speak Japanese.

You can say it's an innocent maneuver, or talk about averages or whatever, but the bottom line is that before I have done anything, they have automatically typecast me. A McDonalds menu flip is no big deal, but that's not where it ends, as paully outlined above.

A vast majority of black people in Tokyo are Africans hawking gaudy sex clubs. If I were in Tokyo, would it be right for a Japanese person to assume I was an African working for a sex club just by looking at me? Even if 98 out of the 100 other black guys they've seen have fit that mold?

It's just a stupid behavior. And yeah, once upon a time, I tried to justify it. "They don't mean harm by it"; "They don't know any better"; "That's just what happens when you have an isolated society and closed minds". But I'm tired of making excuses for them. You wouldn't say to a child who kept running into traffic, "Oh, he's just a kid, he doesn't know any better", you'd tell him to stop running into traffic.

I'm not particularly angry about it. After three years I've sort of learned to live with it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to patronize it. If everyone took that attitude, nothing would change. ...Granted, I don't think that preventing a menu flip will cause revolutionary changes towards the way foreigners are viewed in Japan. All I'm saying is that it's a bad mindset and I don't particularly feel like making excuses for it anymore.

I feel for you man, I feel for you. Most people who see me (or most Maltese men) abroad think of us as potential terrorists considering how we look... Especially this one time when I was about to return from England and spent hours (missing my flight) being checked for weapons or bombs when all I had was a GameCube and several dozen games.

Anyway, as much as I agree with you on this I can't help to believe it's impossible to fix this kind-yet-demeaning stereotype Japanese label with foreigners. As my tutor told me once they train their children to be extra polite to foreigners since Japan is isolated and being so expensive to reach tourists are difficult to attract.

I've considered to carry a pair of sunglasses when I head there as to not be "gaijinated" but that wouldn't help if you're not dark-skinned I reckon. Tough luck Az.

I'm also from Australia and would like to add that most McDonald's don't actually have a McCafe attached althouth the McCafe existed long before Supersize Me, the rolls did not.

And I think the subs at Maccas suck...

When I was in Russia, I managed to avoid Mcdonald's pretty much entirely for the first semester; when I finally broke down over winter break, it made me nauseous. But in my second semester, I'd treat myself to a burger and fries after finishing a paper or something similar. It's sad to see what the menus do to the Russian language: instead of translating the names, they just transliterate them directly into Cyrillic: Big Mak, file-o-fish, chizburger.

The differences are interesting, though...the McD's near my apartment was a lot bigger and classier than American ones. No apple pies, though, just cherry. And Latvian McDonalds had no cherry, but strawberry and "forest berries" or something.

And I look Russian enough that no one made any assumptions.

You make an excellent point.

It's funny actually, I've been to a few McieDs in Japan and no on has done the menu flip to me. I'd go with a Chinese friend so they'd assume that he speaks Japanese, he'd order (in Japanese) then I'd point to the items I wanted on the Japanese side.

Though I have gotten the english menu while at resturants with out asking for it.

I love the drink and meal both in a paper bags inside a platic bag.

-Because America and Canada are so mulitculural we expect people to get our culture, and we assume that if they are in our country they can speak, or should be able to speak english.
the Japanese think that because we're not Japanese we couldn't get their culture, and we'll never be able to do 'Japanese' things.
both are completly silly.
but people are people and if they don't know any better then....

ah but anyways.
on with the show, another day, another story.

Az, you should ask your mom to put a supersize cup in your care-package she sends you! I'm sure that it wont come as to much of a shock, esp after the condoms :P

peace!

Man, you're allergic to fish too? I think my dad's allergic to certain types of seafood, I remember him getting pretty sick after eating some when I was young :-/

The size adjustment also goes for bra sizes. A Japaese C-cup is equivalent to an American B-cup, a Japenese B-cup = American A-cup, and Japanese A-cup gets you an apology from the girl once you get her top off (no, really).

This may go for condom sizes, too, though I'm not brave enough to try and find out (haven't found horse condoms here, yet).

I should reaaaaaally stop posting here when I'm supposed to be studying for Psychology.

Anyhoo, I have but one question for you: is it true that they only give out one ketchup packet per customer?

I mean, I only use the one, and it goes on my burger (I like a lot of ketchup on my Quarter-Pounder), but my brother likes to put a packet of ketchup each on his fries AND his burger... no matter what fast food restaurant we go. It's pretty much a given that if someone at our table gets up to fetch ketchup packets while my brother is there, they will fetch at least one extra packet.

I was thinking about this during Japanese class, as my teacher had gone through an "order at McD's" lesson with her 101 class prior, and when I asked what counter one would use for ketchup packets (-Mai? -Pon?), she had no answer for me - in fact, she was perfectly flabbergasted by the very idea of using more than one. It amused me no end, but at the same time, I never got an answer.

"You order a Big Mac in America, and that thing comes to you in all sorts of disarray. It's collapsed, the lettuce is all outside of the burger and you'd be lucky if the cheese wasn't handed to you in a separate box all together."

It's that way in the States too? I always presumed they were just screwing us East Europeans over and you Americans get all the "real" Big Macs.

quality...

not quantity.

it also helps that all employees are not fat and messy looking with their lower lips hung open like giraffes and going HUUUUUHHHHHHH????? because they couldn't hear you...

I WISH I got the English speaker treatment....everywhere I went in Tokyo people tried to speak to me in Japanese first...

The highlight was when Janus the White accidentally wandered into Koreatown (or something like it) and still was accosted by Korean restauranteurs in Japanese...then Janus the White answered in Korean and the Korean-Japanese's heads exploded.