McDonald’s Japan Halloween Burger

McDonald’s Japan has joined the club by releasing a black burger for Halloween. Hot on the heels of the recent Black Kuro Burger from Burger King Japan comes the new Ika Sumi Burger from McDonald’s.

McDonald’s own dark burger is just in time for Halloween. The burger is called the “Ika Sumi Burger” or Squid Ink Burger, and is its Goth burger to rival that of Burger King.

They have also released a new chicken burger which features Camembert cheese, and a new McFlurry with pumpkin sauce.

Here is a brief description of each Halloween menu item.

The Ika Sumi Burger (Squid Ink Burger) 

The Ika Sumi (Squid Ink) Burger features two beef patties, cheddar cheese, and crispy fried onions, with a special yellow smoky & spicy Chipotle sauce. The burger also contains a black squid ink sauce. All this yumminess is contained within buns dyed with black sesame seeds. The black for Halloween is meant to represent a black witch, which plays mischief on the burger.

You can pick one up at your local McDonald’s Japan restaurant for 370 yen (USD$3.40).

Halloween Ika Sumi (Squid Ink) Burger

The Camembert Chicken Burger 

The Camembert Chicken Burger is the second Halloween burger and features a chicken fillet, lettuce and creamy white Camembert cheese sauce. All within standard white buns. Very scary! The white of the burger (buns and cheese sauce) is meant to represent a white ghost, with the burger dressed up in a white ghost costume.

This burger also sells for 370 yen (USD$3.40).

Halloween Camembert Chicken Burger

Pumpkin Oreo McFlurry 

The third item on the Halloween menu is the Pumpkin Oreo McFlurry. It features pumpkin sauce in the regular oreo cookies & cream vanilla ice-cream Oreo McFlurry. You can try it for 276 yen (USD$2.55).

Halloween Pumpkin Oreo McFlurry

The Taste Test 

Of course, we had to give one of these a taste. It is almost Halloween after all. We headed to our local McDonald’s and ordered a Squid Ink Burger. I know what you are all asking. How did it taste? Well…..it was pretty good. The burger looks awful, but tastes just like a regular McDonald’s burger. The first thing that hits you is the smell of the fried onions as you open up the box. The ika sumi sauce tasted alright and wasn’t too overpowering. The burger had a good spiciness to it due to the Chipotle sauce. The buns were a slight disappointment. Yes, they were dark, but I wouldn’t call them black. Maybe a dark shade of brown is a better description.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience, but it is not something that I would be ordering again.

McDonald’s Halloween menu will be available until the last week of October.

Halloween Ika Sumi (Squid Ink) Burger Set

Special Halloween Box for the Ika Sumi Burger

The black or as I say dark brown buns of the burger

A peep inside the burger

McDonald’s Japan Website

Winner of Japan’s World Heritage Sites Announced!

Thank you to everyone who entered our competition for a chance to win a copy of the book Japan’s World Heritage Sites by John Dougill.

There can only be one winner, and once again we used the traditional method of selecting a lucky person by randomly drawing a name out of a kabuto (samurai helmet).

I’m pleased to announce the winner is…..

*** Lola ***

Congratulations Lola, you will be contacted shortly so we can collect your details to pass on to the publisher.

Commiserations to those who did not win. Don’t worry as Japan Australia will be announcing another competition very soon. Stay posted!

Selecting the lucky winner from the samurai helmet

Book Review: Japan’s World Heritage Sites: Unique Culture, Unique Nature

Japan’s World Heritage Sites: Unique Culture, Unique Nature by John Dougill, published by Tuttle Publishing is a great guide to Japan’s amazing collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This is a must have book for any fan of travel in Japan and for people who are looking to explore the must see tourist destinations and attractions in Japan.

Japan is rich in both natural and cultural wonders, and UNESCO has registered 18 natural and cultural sites in Japan. The sites span the north of the country to the south, from the subarctic of the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido all the way down to the Ryukyu Kingdom in subtropical Okinawa.

I love exploring Japan and have been lucky in my over 10 years of living here to have traveled around most of the country. When I visit a region in Japan, one of the first things I look for are its World Heritage Sites. You could call me a temple, shrine, castle and garden explorer as these are typically the places that you will find me in. Japan has these in abundance as well as natural wonders which will leave you speechless.

This book at 192 pages outlines the World Heritage Sites of Japan with large colour photos and detailed text explaining what makes each site so special. It is filled with more than 350 colour photos, illustrations and maps. It is the perfect coffee table book to provide you with an introduction and outline of Japan’s World Heritage Sites. The description of each site contains practical information for the visitor as well as lush photographs and detailed maps. The book is an excellent guide for travel planning in Japan, or as a resource to use while exploring the country.

From Mount Fuji to ancient Kyoto, readers of the book are introduced to temples, shrines, castles, gardens and the natural wonders for which Japan is famously renowned.

The author, John Dougill describes each World Heritage Site in detail, explaining why they were singled out by UNESCO. Dougill traveled the length of the country to visit all of the sites in Japan to research the book and describes his journey in detail in the book. Some of his favourite sites include:

• Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest and most sacred volcano, it is considered the sacred symbol of Japan.
• Himeji Castle, a monument from Japan's long feudal history. Also known as Egret Castle, because it looks like a bird taking off in flight.
• Horyu-ji Temple, the world's oldest surviving wooden structure - a center of Buddhist learning that still serves as a seminary and monastery.
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial, or Atomic-Bomb Dome - one of the few structures to partially survive the atomic blast in 1945.
• The Ogasawara Islands, a remote archipelago of over 30 islands - that is home to rare wildlife and spectacular scenery.

This is the perfect book to keep at home and plan your next trip in Japan, inspire you to visit the country, or just to sit back in your comfy chair and let it whisk you away for a journey across the country.

Japan’s World Heritage Sites: Unique Culture, Unique Nature is the perfect book for anyone interested in the must see attractions and sites in Japan. You can check out the book yourself on Amazon.com

*** Competition Time *** 

Japan Australia has a FREE copy of Japan’s World Heritage Sites: Unique Culture, Unique Nature to give away to one lucky winner, courtesy of Tuttle Publishing.

For a chance to win, please leave a comment below on the following topic, “What is your favourite World Heritage Site in Japan? And why is it your favourite?”

We will select a winner at random and announce the result after the closing date.

Entries close on Sunday, 12 October 2014.

Note: Please do not comment as Anonymous, use a profile such as Google or WordPress, etc, so we can contact you if you are the lucky winner. We will also announce the winner in a future blog post, so stay tuned to Japan Australia.

Good luck and I look forward to reading your entries

*** Competition Has Just Ended ***