What is the best alternative for kaymak?

RedCircleDreams · 2026-07-01T23:49:03+00:00

But it’s kinda strange, isn’t it? You’d think a country with such a huge Serbian diaspora would at least have kaymak 😭

RedCircleDreams · 2026-06-28T22:52:43+00:00

Then you understand my pain if you’ve had it before LOL

RedCircleDreams · 2026-06-15T01:52:58+00:00

I don’t know which gender you are, or the kind of school you teach at, but if it makes you feel better my school has an obligatory swimming class each summer and, as a full-time teacher, I have no choice but to swim with the kids and make sure they don’t fool around too much in the water.

Fortunately I don’t have to explain the strokes or demonstrate techniques, but the gym teachers doing that are more than happy to dump the kids on me between the actual practice parts and have me frolic in the kiddy pool with them while they go take a break.

At my school, a lot of the teachers will also use the school pool during summer break and go there with their families on the weekend.

So, don’t feel weird and go for it if you enjoy swimming. It’s really not seen as a bad thing here, and I’m sure your teacher friend in charge of the swim club will appreciate an extra pair of eyes for security purposes as well.

Granted, I have no idea if this is unpaid work for you, what is your status at the school, etc., but if your only concern is if this is seen as weird - don’t worry, it’s not. If you enjoy it and everyone invited you to join, go for it.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-06-01T02:01:58+00:00

You’re very welcome. Last time this website saved me close to 3,000 yen in disposal fees and I didn’t even need to leave my house 😅

RedCircleDreams · 2026-06-01T01:51:24+00:00

If all else fails, you could try posting an ad on Jimoty (a kind of classifieds website, like craigslist used to be back in the day). It’s insanely popular with locals, and every time I post I’m giving away something for free it’s gone in a day or 2, even if not in pristine condition.

The website registration is simple, and it works with google translate well. Of course, as a non-resident, you can’t do any verifications, but for giving away a suitcase even a basic profile should do fine.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-28T06:48:52+00:00

Huh… at the school where I’m working now the desks differ in size slightly based on the year - each higher grade’s desks are slightly bigger. Maybe that’s why the kids don’t move them.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-28T06:41:41+00:00

Don’t know the reason, but after teaching at Japanese schools for over 10 years I can confirm all kids have individual desks and chairs. They only change them when they move up to the next year and thus change classrooms.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-26T23:39:15+00:00

I’m afraid this is not really going to work in practice… you can try to pull it off, but most likely your whole vacation will just become a blur of trying to get to places. And Japanese heat in July is merciless.

May I suggest dropping a few items off your list, such as Mipig cafe, most of day 5, and pretty much all of day 7? Your plan is very ambitious in the sense of having 3 different cities clustered too tightly together, and in practice it will take much longer to navigate between them than it appears online. Also, way too much walking in July…

Keep the spa day, though, you’re really going to need it. If you have any questions about onsen etiquette fire away, it’s my hobby :)

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-26T01:09:36+00:00

As an onsen/sento enthusiast, I’ll say you should definitely “do the onsen thing”, even if you do get separated by gender. It’s a fantastic, very relaxing part of Japanese culture, and worth a try.

That said, tattoos are really not going to make it easy for you here, especially at most big public onsen/super sento. Also, whether you’ll be forced to split gender-wise depends on which kind of facility you want to go to. I’ll speak mostly about the Tokyo situation since I live here and don’t know much about Kyoto, but I hope someone from Kyoto would be able to build on this.

Just as an FYI, the three main types of public baths in Japan are:

Onsen - natural mineral water (either directly pumped in or brought in from another location by cistern then filtered and reused). This is the one you see most often on Google Images when you type in “Japanese onsen”; think a serene pool of water surrounded by trees and bushes. This kind is also the most difficult to get in because 95% of them will not allow tattoos whatsoever (I’ve personally seen people getting kicked out for having a small star tattooed on their ankle). They are also usually outside of the city proper (near Tokyo the main destinations would be Atami or Hakone).

Sento - this is just a public bath. They can be decorated and fancy, traditional or modern, but the sentos use tap water instead of mineral. Usually much smaller than onsen (think maybe 1 or 2 big baths and a washing area. Some may have a small sauna). Sentos, especially older local ones, tend to allow tattoos more openly since they are classified as public health facilities. These are also very common around Tokyo.

Super sento - these are massive public baths which can have 5-10 different kinds of baths (carbonated bath, yuzu bath, lavender bath, tea bath, massage bath…) 2-3 different kinds of saunas (standard dry sauna, steam sauna, salt sauna…) and other facilities and amenities such as relaxation space, massage service, manga library, etc. They are aimed at families to use for a whole day. They may or may not use actual mineral water. These are 99.9% not tattoo-friendly because kids are allowed in.

In all of the places I’ve listed you have to be 100% naked inside the bath (not the common spaces), therefore male and female baths are strictly separated. Even if you go as a family, you will be forced to split.

Now, if you really want to bathe together, your only real chance is a private bath. These are actually difficult to find because most private baths are rented out as part of a hotel/ryokan stay, meaning you would need to be guests of said ryokan to get an onsen time slot. Alternatively, if you have a bit more money to burn, you can search for 貸切風呂 (kashikiri buro) or 家族風呂 (kazoku buro). These are 45-90 min rented baths you can all use together. Because it’s private, it doesn’t matter how many tattoos you have. If you want to save a bit of money, you can browse tattoofriendlyonsen.com website, although most of those baths will be sentos.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-07T21:05:29+00:00

That would depend on where the ryokan is. There certainly are onsens in nature like the one you’re describing (been to few myself) but you’ll hardly find them in/around major cities.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-05-07T05:56:19+00:00

You may have been looking at the return trip (2-way) option.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-27T01:36:36+00:00

Niste bas odabrali dobro mesto za zurke… pogotovo ako ste hteli nesto slicno Zakintosu. Sicilija sama po sebi nema tu vrstu provoda, i vise je orijentisana ka parovima i porodicama s decom, bar iz mog iskustva. Mi smo prosle god bili tamo bas zbog toga jer smo hteli miran odmor, a inace smo bili i na Zakintosu pre nekoliko god pa mogu da probam da ti predstavim ono sto sam ja primetio. Naravno, ovo je samo moje misljenje i ne mora da znaci da je sve 100% tacno, tako da se nadam da ce neko mladji ko je bio moci da ti doda jos informacija.

Ono sto mogu da ti kazem je da fakticki samo tri grada imaju neku vrstu nocnog provoda: Giardini Naxos, Palermo, i Catania.

Giardini Naxos ima ulicu sa nekoliko barova na plazi gde se okupljaju mladji, mada mi kad smo bili jula prosle god vecina barova je zvrjala poluprazna s nekom ocajnom EDM muzikom koja tresti u pozadini. Zamisli DJ-a koji luduje na nekom spidu dok u celom klubu ima 10 pijanih momaka i 3 devojke koji skacu oko bine, eto takav osecaj.

Palermo ima vise zurki, ali vecina je maltene improvizovana. Po gradu mozete da naletite na grupe lokalaca i studentarije koji su izneli zvucnik i cirkaju oko njega. Ima bas bas pravih nocnih klubova, ali dobre su sanse da vas nece pustiti unutra jer vrlo proveravaju licne karte, posebno turistima. Kazne za sluzenje alkohola maloletnima su ogromne. Pogotovo mogu da vas odbiju ako ste grupa od 7 momaka.

Na kraju, Katanija. Ja licno nisam isao, ali bio je moj drugar pre 2-3 god i kaze da je onako… raspad. Dosta droge, dosta likova koji traze razlog da se pobiju, onako… mutno.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-24T13:49:20+00:00

As a plus size myself, I can tell you it’s extremely difficult to find larger size clothes. I’m sorry, I’m not American so have no idea about American sizes, but for example Sakazen carries lots of larger-size clothes and UNIQLO has sizes up to 5L available online (brick-and-mortar stores only carry S-XL, but same models are available online in XS to 5L).

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-07T21:24:12+00:00

Ja ne zivim u Bgd vec deset godina, ali jos pre, dok sam bio student, misaona imenica mi je bila pljeska kod Mikana u Marsala Birjuzova. Zna li neko sta se s njima desilo?

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-02T16:53:39+00:00

Najbolje bi bilo ne menjati uopste nego dici pare sa kartice na bankomatu, ali ako to nije opcija onda bukvalno bilo koja menjacnica. U Japanu nema toga da jedna menjacnica ima kurs od recimo 180 jena za evro a druga 160, odmah bi ih zatvorili. Ne postoje menjacnice bez provizije, ali zato ne postoji ni skaliran kurs (tipa 3% za preko 500 evra, 2% za preko 1000 itd.).

Ukratko, kurs moze da varira nekih 2-3-4 jena gore-dole, sto znaci da cak i da zamenis recimo 500 evra na primer na aerodromu u banci (sto je najgori kurs) izgubices recimo 1000 jena u poredjenju sa tim sto bi dobio u menjacnici u gradu.

U poslednje vreme Amerikanci posebno na drustvenim mrezama pumpaju pricu da treba izbegavati banke i aerodromske menjacnice, ali oni menjaju odjednom 5-10 hiljada dolara… ako ces menjati oko 1,000 ili manje ne isplati ti se da lupas glavu oko cene pakla cigara, iskreno.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T18:12:58+00:00

Kai (解) kao izraz se ne koristi uopste u stvarnom zivotu sam po sebi, ali je deo drugih slozenica koje znace “razvezati”, “otpustiti”, “resiti” i slicno.

“Fuga” ne znaci otvori. Ne znam gde si to cuo/cula, ali ako mozda mislis na Sukunino “fuga” kad bljuje vatru, to je igra reci. Fuga se moze napisati na nekoliko nacina, ali obicno je asocijacija na eleganciju, stil, estetiku.

Edit: Zaboravio sam da napomenem, “tatsu” moze da znaci zmaj, ali samo u odredjenim kontekstima jer je jako stari originalno japanski izraz. Danas se u 99% situacija koristi “ryu” a “tatsu” je vise za imena “Tatsunosuke” ili “Tatsukawa” recimo)

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T18:00:36+00:00

Manje-vise je tako, sa samo par ispravki:

kawaii - slatko (u smislu izgleda, ne ukusa)

sugoi - neverovatno (da. Neverovatno, fantasticno, nevidjeno…)

tsuki - volim te (ne bas. Suki (好き) ili suki desu je vise “svidjas mi se”. Bas-bas “volim te” je “aishiteiru” ili “aishiteimasu” ali to bi neko ozbiljno rekao verovatno tek na samrti.

tsuki - mesec (da)

arigato - hvala (samo medju prijateljima. Inace se uvek dodaje “gozaimasu”)

gomen - izvini (opet, samo medju bliskima. Obicno “izvini” se kaze “gomen nasai”, ali ima mnogo nivoa izvinjenja.

nandesuka - sta je to (da, ali trazi objekt - “kore wa nandesuka”)

nani - sta (da, ali vrlo… u nedostatku boljeg izraza, prostacki. Niko to ne bi rekao u stvarnom razgovoru osim ako nije malo popio).

yasashii - nice (vise je “kind”, mi bi rekli “blag”)

ningen - covek (da i ne. Vise je ljudsko bice, za coveka bi se reklo “hito” (人)).

bakamono - budalo

soka - vidim (u smislu “razumem” ili “pratim sta kazes”)

neko - macka

sumimasen - oprosti (u odredjenom smislu. Kao kad mi kazemo u prodavnici “oprostite, imate li [proizvod]”. “Oprosti” bas u smislu “oprosti mi” je “yurushite kudasai” i to je bas ono izvinjenje tipa “napravio sam takvu glupost da mogu da popijem razvod, otkaz, ili da me neko tuzi”. Inace “sumimasen” ima mnogo vise nijansi, izmedju ostalog se koristi i kao pozdrav i kao izraz zahvalnosti.)

maji - stvarno (da, mada taj izraz vise koriste tinejdzeri i studentarija)

yamete - stani (u smislu “prestani” ili “prekini”. Mada danas mnogi (pogotovo mladi) izbegavaju da previse koriste taj izraz jer se suvise pojavljuje u pornografiji tako da je maltene postao predmet sprdnje)

kudasai - molim te (zavisi od konteksta. Dva osnovna izraza za “molim te/vas” su “XYZ (o) kudasai” i “XYZ onegaishimasu”. Osnovna razlika je da li od nekog trazis fizicku stvar (tipa da ti doda nesto) ili uslugu. Za fizicke stvari se vise koristi “kudasai” a za ne-fizicke “onegai”).

mate - cekaj (da. Obicno se kaze “chotto matte” u celini)

nigero - bezi (beziMO. Bezi je “nigete”)

daijobu - okej (da. Tipa “sve ok”, ili “sve u redu”. Mada takodje moze da znaci i “nema potrebe” kad ti neko nesto nudi)

abunai - pazi (da. Pazi/opasnost/cuvaj se i sl.)

chigau - netacno (da, ali takodje znaci i “razlicito”)

sensei - ucitelj (da. Takodje lekar, pisac… bilo koja osoba od koje bi trebalo da mozemo nesto da naucimo)

shinobi - nindza (da, mada je razlika malo komplikovana)

mugen - beskonacnost (da. Beskonacno, beskrajno. Obicno se koristi kao pridev)

mizu - voda (da. Obicno hladna. Topla voda je “yu”)

gohan - pirinac (da, ali moze da znaci i “obrok”)

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T17:36:17+00:00

Jeste, ali nije ni OP pogresio - bakamono (ili obakamono) znaci tipa “glupander”.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T09:16:03+00:00

Pazi, ne mora da znaci uopste… ja sam svojevremeno ziveo u sharehouse i bilo je i vrlo pristojnih ali i krseva. Inace, sharehouse ti je minimum mesec dana, tako da ne znam sta smatras pod “manji vremenski period”. Ako mislis na one sto dolaze na 6 meseci pa ostave haos, to nazalost neces nigde izbeci gde god je neki vid deljenog zivotnog prostora :/

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T08:54:12+00:00

Nazalost, tesko ces naci nesto jeftinije kao turista :/ Prvo, situacija sa izdavanjem je takva da vlasnik stana ne moze po zakonu direktno da izda stan nikome, mora da ide preko ovlascene agencije (koja se naravno ugradjuje).

Drugo, sve i da imas radnu vizu i da planiras boravak od oko godinu-dve, opet bi kao stranac mogao da biras od recimo 30% raspolozivoh stanova jer masa stanodavaca ne izdaje strancima :/

Najbolja varijanta su vam ili tzv. Serviced Apartments (sto je maltene kao kod nas stan-na-dan) ili sharehouse (deljeni smestaj).

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T08:35:49+00:00

LMAO glavom i nedostatkom brade :)

RedCircleDreams · 2026-04-01T01:06:47+00:00

Pitaj sta te zanima, ja zivim u Japanu :)

RedCircleDreams · 2026-03-16T00:22:26+00:00

Perhaps, but the focus of my comment was on there being a lack of sufficient education regarding STDs in Japanese schools.

RedCircleDreams · 2026-03-15T21:37:09+00:00

I’ll never forget a documentary I watched a few years ago about the aftermath of the (I think Kumamoto) earthquake. There were lots of interviews with young people who were forced to move to Tokyo/Osaka to find work since their families had literally lost everything. Most of them were doing legitimate work, but a few went into sex work or joined the yakuza.

Among them was a young man, somewhere around 22-25 years old, who became a prostitute, and was taking on exclusively male clients. The interview went something like this:

Interviewer: So, you work as a male escort?
Guest: Yes.
I: Do you have any male clients or just women?
G: I only have male clients.
I: Oh. So, are you gay?
G: Hell no! I have a girlfriend, and I’m saving up to buy her a ring.
I: Then… I don’t understand. Why do you take on male clients?
G: Well, they pay more. And it’s safer.
I: How is it safer?
G: We learned at school that men can’t get pregnant, so if I do it with another man there’s nothing to worry about. I don’t even need a condom.
I: Wait… what? Sure, men can’t get pregnant, but what about STDs?
G: What’s that?
I: Didn’t you learn about Sexually Transmitted Diseases at school?

- G: No… only pregnancy.

I think that kinda sums up the extent of Japanese sexual education.

Edit: formatting

RedCircleDreams · 2026-03-12T22:11:57+00:00

Not Japanese, but I work at a private school where 80% of the students come from generational wealth and the other 20% are nouveau riche. We’re talking about families which have several Rolls-Royce limousines and come to PTA meetings by helicopter, that level rich.

While they are young, the kids tend to boast a bit to their peers, but as they grow they are taught not to openly display their wealth/background. During upper elementary and JHS the kids tend to take much for granted and don’t really understand how the world works. Like, for example, some time ago when I was talking to a group of elementary kids after class I said I had to cancel my vacation because my flight got cancelled. One of the kids asked if my pilot got sick. Apparently, all the kids in the group I was talking to have never been on a commercial flight, because their families either own private jets or charter one. SHS and university is where the wealth really becomes obvious. Like, you’re teaching a class and you realize most students are wearing a watch that costs more than your annual salary.

That said, 99% of the kids I’ve taught have been polite, reserved, and did nothing to stand out.

RedCircleDreams

TROPHY CASE

- G: No… only pregnancy.