In February of this year, I took a week trip to Japan with my friend Alec. He was going skiing for a week in the North but neither of us had ever been to Japan and we wanted to see what it was like. For me, of course, the food was a big draw.
We started in Tokyo where I spent three nights in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) with its heated bath. One of the highlights of the Ryokan is the Japanese breakfast in the morning.
Green Tea, pickled vegetables, miso soup, rice, and a piece of salmon and some omelet. Nori on the side to mix in with rice! Delicious way to start the day.
At the Ryokan, they also have lovely green tea in the room for you to sip while you sit on the pillows on the tatami mats. In Ryokan Sawanoya, where I stayed in Tokyo near the Ueno park, the tea was particularly good.
With a little origami crane to say hello!
When Alec arrived we explored a crazy area called Shibuya which is filled with trendy Tokyo teenagers shopping and milling about. It's home to the craziest street crossing in the world. I didn't think to go up to the 2nd floor Starbucks and take a video but here's one to give you a feel for it. We were there at night so it was bathed in neon lights too...
After feeling a bit overwhelmed, we just went into a sushi place never suspecting it was a conveyor belt sushi place! We felt so proud of ourselves for mastering the technology!
The menus are printed in front of you and you use a touchscreen television screen to select 3 dishes and your beverages.
Then they whiz along the conveyor belt quickly to your "station" at the bar.
Delicious! I made a dent. And it was cheap!
Alec demonstrating proper chopsticks technique. Note the big pile of plates from our neighbors nextdoor.
After a fast and furious day in Tokyo, we got up early the next morning to take the Shinkasen (bullet train) to Kyoto. And since it was Alec and I, we got SNACKS! We were obsessed with the Japanese snacks and a trip to 7-11 was always a treat.
Onigiris are rice balls in a cool wrapper that keeps the seaweed crisp and the rice moist!
Often filled with salmon, salmon roe, umeboshi plum (salt pickeled sour plum), tuna, and fish roe. The one I got on the train was tuna mayonnaise and then I got another one that was salmon. It was a lottery as I couldn't read the Japanese.
Japanese 7-11s actually produce decent food! No gross burritos here!
Look at that selection!
We bought rice cracker snacks (our favorite had crab on them), aloe vera flavored jelly squares, Japanese chocolate, hot green tea from a heated rack, Asahi and Sapporo beer, jasmine green tea, some gloves, moisturizer, and numerous other things.
So I've moved to Bangkok... of course one of the things that drew me here was the food! So far it has not disappointed... I haven't yet ventured into the street food but today I went to a food court in the poshest mall in Thailand - the Siam Paragon Food Hall. It was overwhelming!
I had so much to choose from that I had to be really strict with myself and force myself to choose the first thing I saw that I wanted. Otherwise, I would have been crippled with indecision! So I had Hainanese Chicken and Rice (which I discovered in Singapore) which was delicious. Its so simple but so good that I learned how to make it at home just so I could have it again! I washed it down with some Thai Iced Tea (so sweet it made my teeth hurt) and to counter balance the sweetness of the Thai Iced Tea, for dessert I decided to have Green Papaya Salad which they prepared right in front of me.
After I fed the beast within, I wandered through the food court looking at everything for offer just for future reference. Next time - I can choose between the Pad Thai stand, the noodle soup stand, the curry stand, the sushi bar, the satay bar or if I want to wander away from Thai food, I can have noodles from Vietnam, Japan, China, Singapore, or even Italy! And for the more discerning palate, there is McDonalds, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts!
I love food and I love choices in food and I love trying things that I have never had before. This is the sad thing about traveling alone. There is a guy that I really like who I wish was here with me in Thailand right now. I know he would be as happy as I am in the food court and we could plot our strategy as to what we would eat and taste everything - double the pleasure - double the fun!
