Hello. As I wrote last time, this is already 4th month in Thailand. I looked back my Thailand life. From my country, Japan, to Thailand, it takes more than 5 hours by plane with a direct service. It’s far. I had guessed I could miss my home country after a few weeks or months in Thailand. But I have not so far. The reason is that I really enjoy myself here with great people. And also, because I know that it is possible in Thailand to fix my homesick by lots of Japanese stuffs or things if I become missing home. Yes, there are so many Japanese things here. I always feel that Thai people really like Japan. I already knew some Japanese company had spread their businesses into South-east Asian countries. However, I hadn’t expected such a lot.
When I went to the nearest shopping mall from my dorm for the first time, I was surprised. Because I found so many Japanese restaurants. I felt like I was in Japan.
Sukiya, Yayoiken, Cocoichibanya, Yoshinoya, Pepper Lunch, 8ban-Ramen are in that shopping mall. I was surprised by 8ban-Ramen because it is only in a small part in the middle of Japan. I searched the shop location, and found that they also spread into foreign countries. And it is only in Thailand and Hong Kong! 140 shops in Japan, 121 shops in foreign countries (114 in Thailand). You, Thai guys, are so lucky! Hahaha.
Here is one interesting thing. These Japanese restaurants are grouped in “Cheap and fast food restaurant” in Japan. However in Thailand, those restaurants’ location are look like “rich restaurants area”. And a little bit far from common food court area in that mall. It is interesting for me. Actually, the prices are expensive compared with common meals in Thailand. The average of one common Thai meal price is about 40 baht, and in those restaurants, the average is around 120 baht for one meal. The cheapest one is Ramen, and the price is more than 60 baht. But it is still cheaper prices than in Japan.
The taste is awesome. I expected a little different taste from in Japan, but almost same! And rice is not Thai rice, but Japanese rice. Japanese rice for Japanese meals. Perfect.
Japanese restaurants in Thailand are not only by Japanese company, but also by Thai. I already found a lot. Inside of my campus, I have tried a Japanese noodle (Ramen) restaurant, “Hako-Ramen”. “Hako” means a box. I don’t know why it is “Hako”. And they have Ramen, Don-buri and Curry-and-rice. At my first time, I had Shoyu Ramen. Noodle was boiled a little bit too much, but yummy.
In the second time, I had Curry-and-rice. Amazing. I was moved. That was perfectly what I wanted. Curry has a lot of tastes and it depends on countries or areas even inside of one country. But in this restaurant, they copied Japanese curry so well and this is not produced by Japanese company. It’s really amazing, isn’t it? The price was 70 baht. It is much cheaper than in Japanese companies’ restaurant; a little more expensive than other common Thai meals. Anyway, it is super great for me.
My favorite thing is Matcha. So I have tried lots of Matcha flavor in Thailand. And I found the best one in Thailand. It is in a cafe in Bangkok, which is named Fuku Matcha. I ordered Matcha latte with Hoji-cha ice cream. Pretty good. Because the taste wasn’t the closest one to the real, rather the real. And also, it says it is from Kyoto, my hometown. I was so excited. 
In Siam in Bangkok, there are some department stores, and they include ISETAN, which is a big Japanese department company. I’ve not been there yet. My Japanese friend went there and bought a book written in Japanese. ISETAN has Kinokuni-ya book store, one of famous book stores in Japan. I want to read books because I have a lot of free time here, but I didn’t find any Japanese books. So this was good news to me.
Thai people like Japan, and Japanese companies like Thailand. It is good for Thai people and Japanese people who stay in Thailand like me. That is one of my reasons why I don’t miss home. I can get everything I want even Japanese stuffs. It is kind of strange, but exciting. When you go abroad, I guess you think you don’t need to go to places organized by your home country. However it is also good and interesting thing. You can compare something you’ve not seen with original styles, which you already know, and enjoy finding differences. Try it! Your staying must be more interesting, I think. Have fun 🙂
The Story of MoMo 