Watching Netflix in hotel rooms, part 2
Plus Christmas in Japan, Substack Meetup and Strawberry Oreos!
Greetings from Kobe, Japan, where we are in the midst of a two-week visit to the Land of the Rising Sun, as locals play Christmas music in every store and display their red and green holiday cheer.
(Go figure.)
I had recently written about the rising trend of hotel rooms in the U.S. to deal with our thirst to binge Netflix in hotel rooms. (Note: no one I’ve run into here is talking about Netflix seeking to buy Warner Bros. Discovery!)
Here in Kobe, which is near Osaka, the second largest metro area of Japan, they make it easier. At our hotel, the remote has dozens of streaming choices on the device, but you won’t get very far without your phone next to you.
All the streaming options take you direct to a QR code, where you are asked to confirm the code via the phone and apply your viewing credentials.
In other words, as I noted before—don’t leave home without your screen ID and password. Or, get prepared to make new ones on the spot via your phone.
Speaking of Netflix and streaming, this week the video giant announced that it would cease allowing us to “cast” shows from their Netflix phone or tablet app directly to hotel or short-term rental TV sets, preferring instead to work only with remote controls.
“Netflix no longer supports casting shows from a mobile device to most TVs and TV-streaming devices,” SF Gate reported Netflix stating on its help page. “You’ll need to use the remote that came with your TV or TV-streaming device to navigate Netflix.”
May I say it again?
Don’t leave home without your passport, some cash in your pocket and your streaming credentials! You never know…
Strawberry Oreos
Have you ever seen strawberry Oreos? I found them on a shelf of a market and they look delectable to me—even if you have to wonder how much Strawberry is really in that cream. I really wanted to try them, but I was worried I’d eat the whole box, so I left them behind. (Apparently it’s an Asia thing. I found an imported box on Amazon that’s available for just over $30)
Holiday Fare
Dressed for the part at a local Starbuck’s.
In Japan, Christmas is about the big holiday meal—fried chicken, and most turn to Kentucky Fried Chicken and bring home a bucket. At least that’s what they tell me here.
No Sleeping at the Market!
Apparently this is a problem at your local supermarkets in Japan, at least in Kobe, where one store had signs plastered in the public dining area telling people they weren’t allowed to fall asleep after their sushi. Do you tend to catch winks at your Safeway?
Substack Meetup
While visiting Osaka, we met up with Brent Hartinger and Michael Jensen, who write the popular Brent and Michael Are Going Places newsletter here on Substack. They are digital nomads who sold their house in 2017 and are traveling the globally slowly, staying in fun places for months at a time.
Their newsletter is a lot of fun to read (check out the latest on visiting one of the notorious “Love Hotels” in Osaka) and so was the meetup. I interviewed them for my upcoming Osaka episode of Photowalks, which will run on Scripps News and YouTube in 2026, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, be sure to check out their newsletter.
(If you don’t recognize the pretty young lady in the beret, that would be Ruth, the Mrs., and the author of the Ruth Talks Food newsletter.)
We leave you from the crazy Sannomiya train station in Kobe at dinner time with a friendly reminder that our December Giveway is still underway, even while we’re out of town. The prize is two free nights in beautiful Pismo Beach, California and all you have to do to qualify is:
🔥 Sign up for this weekly tech meets photography meets travel newsletter right here.
🔥 Wait, you’re reading this and probably already subscribed. So instead, like the giveaway post on Instagram + follow me there.
🔥 Leave a comment on the latest Photowalks episode on YouTube, part 1 of the Pacific Coast Highway journey.
Part 2 of the journey (including our visit to idyllic Pismo!) debuts on Scripps Sunday at 10 a.m. ET, and will also be seen on the YouTube replay.
Happy Trails!
Jeff