Double Tall Skim Catpooccino To Go

by Iva Skoch on

If you’re a coffee lover, maybe you’ll want to make a special flight on Japan Airlines to buy “the rarest coffee in the world“: civet coffee. But this specialty brew is sold only in business class, to the tune of $600 for 100 grams.

You’re not going to find this in any Starbucks. Your other options for getting the coffee are limited: if you’re not heading to Japan, a single coffee shop in Vienna sells the beans. If you’re really adventurous, maybe you can sniff out the source directly: the Philippines. An environmentalist husband and wife team, named Reyes, has made a multi-million-dollar business out of its harvest. Non-coffee drinkers themselves, they accidentally stumbled into the civet’s special gift while doing conservation work on sugar palm trees outside of Manila in 2003.

What makes the coffee so rare? It’s made from the droppings of the civet cat. Apparently, this nocturnal, ferret-like cat eats sugar palm fruit and coffee cherries. (Oh, and you can catch SARS from it too.) The coffee bean is not digested, but ferments in its digestive system and is excreted, much to the delight of locals, who collect the ready-to-roast beans, but try to keep the origin secret. The roasted beans give off a “sweet chocolatey aroma” and produce a “strong and earthy” brew.

Ah, I can just imagine the aroma!

Where to Go With A Fro’ In Tokyo?

by Adrienne Wilson on

Okay, I’ve ranted about being culturally sensitive on hair and being invisible in foreign places; all of which I think anyone can relate to on one level or another. Well, when I read this Washingto Post piece I had that same feeling that anyone could relate to the author’s troubles finding a good barber in Japan. From the sound of things Wayne Lionel Aponte has hair a lot like myself, slightly kinky, sort of curly, and an overall texture that not just anyone can deal with. Sure, it’s only hair and while it may very well grow back you still don’t want to be walking around Tokyo streets with a wacked hair do. I can OVER relate to that. I had the same troubles and feeling when I wanted my hair cut and that was only in Simi Valley, CA. Anyhow, things turn out well for the author, who gets his overgrown hair neatly cut and sets up another appointment before bowing with the barber and bidding farewell or sayonara!

Cute short read.

Photo of the Day (9/30/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on


This picture totally reminds me of My Favorite Martian for some very odd reason. Could it be all the three-eyed alien like figures? Hmm… Out of the Gadling Flickr pool – SunToad took this one almost a year ago at a Halloween celebration in Tokyo Disneyland. While it’s still rather early to think about Halloween I thought the glowing eyes and lights and overall cuteness of the creatures deserved a moment of fame. Besides it makes me think of traveling out of this world.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of September 24

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time for another weekly wrap-up of some delicious Gadling finds from the week that was. I’d like to think of it like seconds of a most incredible dessert.

5. Locals Only, Whatever:
Iva blogged about this issue just yesterday, but she gives you a little food for thought on the big locals only issue most travelers tend to face. To go where the locals only go or to hang with your tourist friends in new cities and places? I don’t know. Some days it’s good to kick it with the locals and on some it’s cool to hang with someone who is just as clueless as you in your fancy foreign travel destination. What to do?

4. Mt. Biking the Land of Rising Sun:
When I read this piece I had the same feelings Erik did – mountain biking in Japan? Sure we would never put it past a place with such spectacular beauty, not to mention mountains, and to give us a clearer picture of the mountain biking scene he points us to a fine piece out of Mountainzone. Check it out.

3. Packing Your Bike:
While I’m on the subject of biking here’s a blurb everyone whose traveling with their bike for the first-time, second-time, or tenth-time might want to read on packing your bike and shipping it with you. Make sure you’re getting less hassle and more bang for your buck. For instance some airlines charge an additional fee for boxing your bike and shipping it while others are said not to.

2. Volunteer Vacation Day One: Shovels, Buckets & the Pit:
If you may have noticed I was away for a sweet three weeks in the Central Asian land of Tajikistan. What was I doing so far off and away? Glad you asked. I was helping to build homes with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program. If you’ve ever wanted to do a volunteer vacation of your own and need ideas check out this one and tell me what you think.

1. Yahoo’s New Video Travel Site:
I love hearing about new travel sites just as much as the next man or woman. With Neil’s watchful eye we are alerted on Yahoo’s new video site which in fact looks very much like bookmark material. So head on over to Yahoo, give it a look and tell them Gadling sent ya!

Mt. Biking the Land of the Rising Sun

by Erik Olsen on

Who knew that fat tire fanatics could find bliss in th eland of sushi and sake? Hey, when I think of Japan, I am rather more apt to picture huge LCD signs rising over Tokyo like a scene from Blade Runner, not lovely single-tracks that wind through river and stream. OK, there’s always Mt. Fuji, but did you know that the mountain biking was actually quite spectacular? This article over at Mountainzone makes the case convincingly that outdoor sports like mountain biking and kite surfing are becoming all the rage in Japan.

We meet the members of one of the country’s hot new biking teams and get a solid feel for the terrain and riding opps around Mt. Fuli, where for a brief period in and around mid-September (i.e. right now), the mountain offers itself up to mountain biking. Heading out with team Lightening & Thunder, we get to navigate the twisting trails, gnarly switchbacks, and the piles of loose scree during a pleasantly unusual biking experience.

Add this one to your list of mountain biking must-dos.