If you do not know Cirque du Soleil, it is an avante-garde circus, and musical experience that tells a story. They explore the edges of human abilities and present it through amazing beautiful images and sound. I sound like an ad, but this is not--I'm just a huge fan.

If you must be out, have an umbrella in one hand and a sports drink in the other. It's supposed to be 37 tomorrow. Take care of yourself and pay attention to people who have to work outside.

When I lived in Norway, we had a similar thing that you need to do absolutely anything. It was actually very convenient, saved a lot of paperwork, and made life easier. You can generally trust the Norwegian government to look out for your interests and not abuse a system like that.

I'm hearing very negative opinions about the MyNumber system here in Japan. I trust the Japanese government less than I do the Norwegian government. What do others think? Are the risks greater than the benefits, if there are benefits? I'm legitimately curious and have no solid opinion on this.

The gas station will open in a few days--Aug. 1. But if it is like the other Costco, they'll require a MasterCard.

If you are not a member, if you pre-register before August 24, you get 1000 yen off.

Mandheling is a type of Sumatra and has the same low level of acidity as Starbucks Sumatra. (They are probably from similar beans.)

Mild taste, easy on your stomach. After going to three Starbucks and not finding them, I got my fix from Kaldi.

Sometimes I'm just happy to be able to log in. I think Lemmy is worth the early days issues.

Reporting stuff is helpful and for now I ask for your patience.

I am open to questions about anything.

We've started our own wild yeast batch, and you can get dry sourdough yeast off of Amazon which has more punch that our wild batch, but sometimes a professionally done loaf is convenient.

Any clues on where to find good local sourdough bread?

It's going to be here.

This will be better for me than Amagasaki. I'm finding it hard to get an exact date. Some pages say that it should be already open, but the main Costco page does not list it. There is an outlet mall nearby too.

According to my students who live nearby Costco, it is not an unusual thing for nearby kids to slip past the people who check your Costco cards and go to the food court.

I'm talking about real pies, not tarts. (Although sometimes Andrew's Egg Tarts fill the void.) Key Lime, Lemon Meringue, Rhubarb/Strawberry, Pecan, Apple, Cherry, Peach, etc.

Searches for Pies in Osaka normally return images of things that are entirely alien to me. There was a place called The Pie Shop which looks amazing, but it disappeared with the pandemic.

Costco has the occasional Apple or Pumpkin Pie and those are kind of OK with their commercial crust.

Of course my wife's pies are amazing, but out of those listed above, she only makes apple pie.

So, what do you know? Are there any amazing pies in Osaka? I suppose we can include tarts if they are sweet, juicy, and fresh.

Here's my problem with most bacon I find here. It is too thin, and it is cured with something that burns before the bacon gets crispy.

The one I found is not pretty. It looks like it is the odds and ends from some other cut, but it tastes great and gets crispy. It's at Kitano Ace One. The link is for the one at LalaPort near Banpaku Koen. I hear there's another one. If anyone knows the source of bacon where these cuts come from, please let me know.

There are also some good sausage in the refrigerator section.

All these are around the same price. A set will be more than 1500 yen, but less than 2000. Not cheap, but worth it.

Top Tier:

Nick and Renee's -- This place is fantastic and the shakes are good too. It's a bit spendy, but I have not had a better hamburger anywhere. I've never had trouble parking.

Frank's Ride & Eat -- A close second to Nick & Renee's. Another amazing hamburger. I'd go more often if I could be sure there was parking.

Very Good Hamburgers:

Outback -- It's been a while, but I remember these as a solid quality hamburger. Don't eat too much of the Bloomin' Onions before it arrives.

Hard Rock Cafe -- Again, I haven't been there for a while, but like Outback, this was one of the first real hamburgers to appear in Osaka.

Kua'aina -- Hawaiian Hamburgers. These are serious burgers and I suspect people know them. They just make the list.

Going to try next:

Kohaku Burger Cafe: Not been there yet, but looks promising.

Tried and won't be back:

Shimauma Burger -- Small and not near as good as the others on the list. I left hungry for the same price as the other places.

My knowledge here is limited. I eat two kinds of Pizza. When I want Italian pizza, it's Salvatore Cuomo. I also love their 4 cheese gnocchi. If I want American style pizza, I go to Costco. The variety is small, but I do not know a better place for the price.

I am curious about the Gyoumu Supermarket pizzas. They seem good sized and not too expensive. I'd love to hear experiences with them.

Oh, yes, and there are my wife's pizza margherita, which is amazing, but I'm not sharing.

I can eat delivery pizza, but the cost is ridiculous and I don't like it that much. Works in a pinch when people drop by. Points for experimentation however.

What else have you got? Please include links.

Differently than /r/osaka on Reddit, we're splitting Osaka and OsakaLife into two communities. OsakaLife is aimed at those who live in Osaka and want to discuss issues related to life here and exchange information. So, we'll send all the tourism related posts to the Osaka community.

The guidelines for behavior at this point are to be cool to each other, keep the topic related to Osaka, and don't advertise.

By don't advertise, I don't mean we can't share events, products, or services. That's OK and fully encouraged, even if they are your events, products or services, but please don't advertise them here. The difference between sharing and advertising usually comes down to rhetoric, so if you just avoid attempting to convince someone about your event, product, or service, that's probably advertising. However, if you are attempting to convince people that Nick & Renee's Hamburgers are not only the best hamburgers in Japan, but would stand up to the best in the world, that's fine. Unless you happen to be Nick or Renee (assuming they are real people), then please just stick to the facts if telling about your most excellent Hamburger restaurant.

We are clearly in need of some posts, so if you can offer some wisdom about the region or have questions, please feel free to post.