Today’s schedule was all plotted around having an early dinner with Naoko’s mums sisters and cousin (and a 2 year old) at 4 pm so we couldn’t really do much other than local stuff.
Naoko had a fun trip to the dentist in the morning and then we went to the local consumerism shrine of UniQlo. It’s the best place to buy decent quality clothes at a low price but somehow it still all adds up. Who knew a few socks, t-shirts, jeans, and jackets that all seem so cheap individually would somehow quickly add up to over $200 worth haha. Not much by NZ standards but it seemed like even the checkout girl was surprised.
Today’s lunch was a convenience store collection of various edible curiosities. Last night we watched a famous Japanese group (SMAP) on a variety show where they pretended to be chefs and made various snacks for their guests, then they revealed the snacks were made on behalf of 7/11 convenience stores. The head of the 7/11 group came out on the show and sampled the dishes and then they announced that these would be available in shops for everyone to buy. Unlike NZ McDonald’s who announce a new product like Georgie Pie then only get it in one shop for 6 months, Japan does things properly so the very next day these items were available in every shop across the country it seems.
Trying to be wary of the fact it was an early dinner I didn’t eat too much but they did seem quite yummy. Better than the semi cold pie you might get at Star Mart.
The early dinner was worth the wait though, we went to a local restaurant where we had a private room so the 2 year old could be as noisy as he wanted. Cute kid but it turns out that terrible twos is an international thing. For dinner I ordered a platter that had sashimi, tempura, negi toro gohan (the best fatty tuna minced up and mixed with spring onion on top of rice – delicious) Miso soup, and some random pickles. Good stuff. A small waffle pancake for dessert and I was stuffed.
A typhoon is coming tomorrow, the rain has started and the winds are picking up. It won’t be anything like what we are use to in Wellington but it has everyone here a bit concerned about battening down the hatches and staying home. Sounds like a good plan to me, I’m sure we’ll watch lots of hilarious Japanese TV. I could sit and just watch the commercials all day.
Anyway dinner seems like ages ago now so I’m going to hunt down a snack and watch some of those hilarious commercials. Have a good one folks!
Oyasumi!