Last year I ma
de a trip to Fukui Prefecture with my girlfriend. We went sometime in July and did some sightseeing. We saw what is arguably the oldest castle in Japan- Maruoka Castle. We also stumbled upon a nice little place called "take no ningyo", which was a place where they make dolls out of bamboo-- the main theme was bamboo, so much so that they even had bamboo flavored ice cream available to eat (which was refreshing, and much like green tea ice c
ream). We then took a trip to the famous temple called "Eiheiji". Outside of which we waited over 15 minutes to take a picture of a buddhist statue with a frog statue next to it, as there was a man blocking the view (he had been praying at it since before we got there, and when he moved, he was praying at it from a distance. When we left, he went back to praying at it from his original position... he might've been there for more than an hour). We then found our way to something I was really looking forward to seeing. It was a place called Diamond Beach (水晶浜). It was like paradise, we swam around and watched the sun set over the water, much like the Californian coast to which I am accustomed, only the beach was much much cleaner. It was too far out of the way, and plus they were going to close before we could get there-- a town called Obama. We saw them in a magazine: The Obama Burger.
de a trip to Fukui Prefecture with my girlfriend. We went sometime in July and did some sightseeing. We saw what is arguably the oldest castle in Japan- Maruoka Castle. We also stumbled upon a nice little place called "take no ningyo", which was a place where they make dolls out of bamboo-- the main theme was bamboo, so much so that they even had bamboo flavored ice cream available to eat (which was refreshing, and much like green tea ice c
ream). We then took a trip to the famous temple called "Eiheiji". Outside of which we waited over 15 minutes to take a picture of a buddhist statue with a frog statue next to it, as there was a man blocking the view (he had been praying at it since before we got there, and when he moved, he was praying at it from a distance. When we left, he went back to praying at it from his original position... he might've been there for more than an hour). We then found our way to something I was really looking forward to seeing. It was a place called Diamond Beach (水晶浜). It was like paradise, we swam around and watched the sun set over the water, much like the Californian coast to which I am accustomed, only the beach was much much cleaner. It was too far out of the way, and plus they were going to close before we could get there-- a town called Obama. We saw them in a magazine: The Obama Burger. We always said we'd go back some day to get the coveted burger of Obama. This previous weekend, we had our chance. My girlfriend and I had some business in Osaka to take care of, and we returned 
home on a Monday. They have special deals on the weekends for the freeways (which are actually toll roads here), but those special deals don't apply to weekdays. We made a point of doing some sightseeing on the way home by means of avoiding toll roads by driving through some small towns we wanted to see. Since we had such a good time in Fukui last year, and because we wanted to try the "Obama burgers", we set our sights on the small town of Obama, which is located on the tail of Fukui Prefecture, just neighboring Kyoto.
home on a Monday. They have special deals on the weekends for the freeways (which are actually toll roads here), but those special deals don't apply to weekdays. We made a point of doing some sightseeing on the way home by means of avoiding toll roads by driving through some small towns we wanted to see. Since we had such a good time in Fukui last year, and because we wanted to try the "Obama burgers", we set our sights on the small town of Obama, which is located on the tail of Fukui Prefecture, just neighboring Kyoto. The toll road we took to Obama actually ended there-- the road suddenly turned into a regular street, and we found ourselves on a wild goosechase. We decided to take it to the 
locals. Our first stop was a convenience store-- to which we had a slight detour in what was the most narrow street I've ever driven on (my tires were scraping the curbs part of the time... on both sides). The street ended up being part of a shrine-- which was interesting, to say the least. The shrine looked run down and the road looked like it was in slight use, as there were cars on either end of it. Anyways, we asked the convenience stores straight up if they knew where we could get the burgers. The response: "Obama burgers?".
locals. Our first stop was a convenience store-- to which we had a slight detour in what was the most narrow street I've ever driven on (my tires were scraping the curbs part of the time... on both sides). The street ended up being part of a shrine-- which was interesting, to say the least. The shrine looked run down and the road looked like it was in slight use, as there were cars on either end of it. Anyways, we asked the convenience stores straight up if they knew where we could get the burgers. The response: "Obama burgers?". There was a quick exchange between the elderly women-- "oh! I know, it's across the street from the post office over there, right?" "NO! That's Mos Burger!!"... "oh really??... wait, it's over there by the station, right? next to the cafe?" "that's McDonalds!!!". Everyone had a good laugh at the lady's expense.
We looked at any travel magazines or maps they had available, but to no avail. One of the women offered to call the city hall to investigate for us. The worker at the city hall suggested a souvenir shop down by the fisherman's warf. They drew out a map for us and we drove down the road for a good 30 minutes (at approximately 60 km/h) before seeing the next convenience store-- the one at which we were instructed to turn at. We turned... and turned... and turned. We couldn't find it. We asked one of the local fisherman if he knew where the place was, and he pointed the way. Just for kicks, we asked him about the "Obama burger". After about 5 seconds of cold silence, he replied "what?". We thanked him and drove away. After parking the car on the side of the road, we entered THE building. It was decked out in Obama/Obama memorabilia... that is to say all kinds of crap you don't want representing both the town and the President (of the United States). We proceeded to ask the lady at the front desk about the "Obama burger". She thought that maybe she'd heard of it before, but wasn't sure. It wasn't looking good, as this was the building called "The Food-Culture Center of Obama". We had one last chance-- the souvenir shop keeper.
Clerk: "We stopped making those about 6 months ago."
*Pause for shock*
Us: "Wait... how come? We came all the way from Toyama... well, we're actually on the way home from Osaka"
Clerk: "The truth is...................................... they weren't very good"
Us: "it took us forever to find this place! Nobody knew about the Obama burger, we asked all over town (half laughing)"
Clerk: "In fact, they were terrible"
Us: ...
Clerk "Take a look at the picture"
So that was the end of the Obama burger, of which remained only a picture of 2 buns in whose 'inbetween' resided something riminiscent of the Science Diet Dog food that my grandma used to feed her poodles. It was sheer and utter defeat coupled with hilarity strong enough to cause a new outlook on life. The search was over, it was time to go home.
We hopped back on the highway and drove off into the sunset-- quite literally, as it was just about 6 PM by the time it was all over. We had half a tank of gas, just enough to get back home.
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