#fooddrama

[illuminatingfacts]

Do not eat my lunch! 🥡 I have exactly 7 shrimp and 4,639 grains of rice. I’ll know if it’s missing! 😂

[the-headline]

Your taste buds are about to go for a war! 🍕 vs. 🥦 Which side are you on?

[momentsatmydesk]

~My Thoughts on ‘Gohoubi Gohan’~

In a line or two: This one will make you want to live better and fall in love with food again.🥟

The Story: 

Ikeda Sakiko, a 22-yr-old young-adult, has moved to Tokyo for her first job in a stationery company. Sakiko’s first love? Food. The show is about Sakiko’s journey as she navigates the ups, the downs, and the learnings of her work life. For her hard work, Sakiko rewards herself every week with ‘Gohoubi Gohan’ a.k.a. ‘Rewarding Meals’.

Thoughts:

1. Nobody does food dramas like the Japanese. No offense to the ‘Let’s Eat’ series fans (I am one too). They have this stupendous knack of combining life lessons, positivity, and love for food in a show. It’s almost reverential.

2. I think Sakiko’s character is so amicable. She’s a newbie at work but she’s also sure of who she is. Her colleagues tease her playfully for her incessant thoughts around ‘what should I eat next’, and Sakiko unabashedly acknowledges her passion. She’s kind but not meek. She’s polite but that doesn’t stop her from being assertive or sharing her thoughts. 

3. Sakiko has 6 colleagues and I absolutely love how every episode is crafted around her getting to know one of them over a meal. From awkward moments to relishing chilled beer after a long work week, friendship springs from sharing grilled skewers, cheese-oozing burgers and piping hot ramen. 

4. I especially loved Sakiko’s solitary food-date. She decides to head to a Taiwanese restaurant by herself in the spirit of exploring new food. Her enthusiasm at the amount of soup in the ‘soup dumpling’ is adorable. 

Watching her eat with thorough love, the owner steps in and recommends local suggestions which Sakiko devours. The gusto with which she opens her mind to an entirely different palette is to me, as a foodie, so inspiring.

5. I love female friendships. The one between Kominato-san and Sakiko is endearing, fun and comforting. 

The former is a lover of all things bread and on their first meal together, where they randomly meet at a hamburger restaurant after work, we see the two bond over deliciousness. Kominato then offers to take Sakiko to eat her hometown food specialty, and over a grill teaming with hot food, the two have heart-to-hearts. 

6. When she’s not exploring food outdoors, Sakiko cooks her Gohoubi Gohan at home. These are equally excellent to watch. From her first French toast experience, to enjoying sushi like her family back home would, Sakiko takes utmost care to prep and enjoy her meals. 

When she cooks, there is an overpowering tenderness in the way she treats the ingredients. Her monologues are joyful, intimate and wholesome. They make you smile and make it hard to stop doing so.

7. A favorite moment of mine was to watch Sakiko spend her bonus on getting premium ingredients to cook herself a lavish ‘Hot Pot’ as her Gohoubi Gohan. I love how she even brought an ‘ingredients manual’ to pick her choices from. 

8. I’m not against ‘hard shelled’ male characters, but I think Isogai’s was a bit too anal for my liking. He’s Sakiko’s senior and one of the most sought-after employees in the product development team. He may not have the intent to communicate harshly, but his words are often demeaning, sexist, and condemning. He does make up for his behavior, but I can’t say I’m his fan. 

9. I watched this drama as my break time between work, and I think it taught me so much about how to approach situations at a workplace, how to choose the right time to say what you feel, and how, there are so many kinds of people out there, all trying to live life in the best way they can. 

10. I am the biggest fan of food commentaries and Sakiko provides an ample amount of them. I love how descriptive, detailed and warm her thoughts on food are. She takes her time to savor various flavor combinations, cherishes the classics, deeply respects the ways of cooking and eating that she’s brought up with, is constantly looking for ways to step out of her culinary comfort zone and expand her taste buds.

11. Another favorite episode of mine was the one where Sakiko steps into this fancy bar. The bartender, a cool, helpful man in his late 60′s, introduces her to the charming world of cocktails. From fresh seasonal fruits to drinks with floral notes, Sakiko learns to treat herself without guilt. The two share a comradery where Sakiko confesses her newness to the world of liquor flavors and the bartender careful guides her to unique, enjoyable ones. 

The show is filled with heart-warming moments and makes you want to hug every character for having the ability to enjoy food so well. I couldn’t have asked for a better ‘Gohan’ drama to the start of my J-drama explorations for the year.

Favorite Learnings:

1. You have your own place in this world. You don’t have to fit it. 

2. Life can get hard sometimes. During such moments, going back to what you love will reconnect you with joy. 

3. Never stop trying new things, even when they feel scary and challenging.

Last Words: If you love food and you love watching people enjoy what they eat while learning kind, lovely things about life, you can’t miss this one.🥞🍛🍜

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Image Credits (www.aitado.blogspot.com) : 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24 ,25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,31, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 

[cuddlesandrage]

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Corn Dog Drama Episode 3 If you’re behind on the drama, catch up on YouTube with our CDD playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1N8EF8kuxb7ZmzZQXReyqc-TFjjNnLVf #junkfoodsoapopera #corndogs #corndogdrama #cuddlesandrage #soapopera #short #lol #wtf #foodhumor #fooddrama #handmdade #polymerclay #miniatures #pregnant #humor #weird https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGdqIpp4gh/?igshid=27lujdsdskr2

[shrestharoy]

That moment when you're fed and get all the attention because, you know... Food is better than him, after all. 🤭 . P.s. I don't know how to use chopsticks. 🙈 . . . #foodislove #foodpost #couplethateatstogetherstaystogether #foodforlife #foodisbetterthanbae #foodism #allaboutfood #foodography #foodvideo #foodvibes #foodventure #foodfeed #eatingtogetherisbetter #sillyfoodpost #fooddrama #foodstagram #food #foodlovers #foodisfuel #foodisbae (at Mohinga The Taste of Myanmar) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wvei7nmh9apeWPbN0dgyVvaLyPn6BfoDO13s0/?igshid=4opmtsj4kl56

[docneer]

When drama queens cook the result is epic! #fooddrama #foodporn #foodiegram #friendshipgoals (at Ahmedabad, India)

[wellness-goddess]

Yup organic spinach and doritos. I use to do the battle with my kids, the battle every parent does, getting my kids to eat a healthy diet. Over the years I've eased up. My kids get green smooothies, fresh and organic produce, whole grains, etc.... so when they requested Doritos today I thought why not. Its all about balance, living the Harmoniously Chaotic Life. Give and take. The funny thing is, is that the battle becomes less intense when both sides come to a comprise. #reallife #family #parenting #fooddrama

[pistanthrophobia21]

#porkbelly #pork #foodgasm #foodstalker #foodtrip #foodneurotic #fooddrama #foodmanic

[jennysansouci]

#socalroadtrip stop at @porrovita in #newportbeach, making up for the fact that @joelrunyon may or may not have convinced me to try @innout burger today. 😳 how did that happen!? went bunless #obviously but still, i'm having a serious identity crisis. #greenjuice to the rescue!!!!! (juice = lemon-kale-parsley-spinach-celery-cucumber) #greens #saveme #fooddrama (at PorroVita)

[aviewfromtheleftie-blog]

Highly addictive FISH AND FRIES from the one and only @8stbites!! #avftl #avftlfaves #fooddrama #fishandfries #friedfish #fush #fried #friedfood #smmanila #8stbites (at aviewfromtheleftie.blogspot.com)

[elfscarlett]

I hate being sick because soup. And i liked soup. #Fooddrama #soup #instafood #soupkills

[everydaydetox]

The "Cheat day" prolongs the life long food drama. If you really want to stop craving foods that make you sick and fat then you need to say goodbye to them. Clear them from your system completely by not eating them. All of the smokers and ex-smokers know how that one "cheat" or "reward" cigarette just keeps strengthening the cravings and keeps the cycle going. It's total bullish*t. We even know we're lying to ourselves when we do it. I've been eating a vegan, whole foods diet for 20 years this year. If I had to practice abstinence all of this time I would have never done it. I successfully cleared damaging foods from my system and the cravings for them disappeared completely. I love pizza. So in the beginning I went toward vegan, organic pizza. Then I started making my own raw tomato sauce. Then I started making salads with oregano, basil, sun dried tomatoes, olives, etc… But I never went back to actual pizza. And I don't crave it. At all. I truly crave the salad, the raw tomato sauce or a pizza kale chip. Creativity in the kitchen and transition had something to do with that, but the real success was not cheating. Not drawing myself back into the cycle of food drama. And by "cheating" I mean the real garbage. If you eat too many organic, raw almond butter date thingys it's not cheating. It's just oops! But we all know what kind of food really doesn't serve us. Of course there's the beginning steps of transition for anyone trying to eat better. I'm not suggesting we beat ourselves up if we fall off or that we need to get too rigid about it. But watch that life long food drama! And understand what keeps these cycles going. #vegan #detox #blissedin #everydaydetox #rawvegan #cheatday #pizza #junkfood #paleo #organic #iinphoto #rawfood #rawfoods #organic #wholefood #realfood #fooddrama (at Prospect Park)

[funfoodandfrolic]

100% vegetarian lasagna with a filling of Ratatouille #fridayfever #foodgasm #foodporn #fooddrama #bloggerlife #dinner #foodlove

[chang13]

#finnmartin at #beasy in #cologne . Today no #workitworkit #arbeitsamtu . Haha just #asian invasion #fooddrama

[pistanthrophobia21]

#foodgasm #pasta #carbonara #foodaholic #foodstalker #fooddrama #foodneurotic #foodmanic #foodcritic #foodtrip #bigbys