Saturday 31 July 2010

Leaving Japan - What we will miss in Japan

Seeing as we are leaving Japan after close to 11 months, we thought we would do a quick post of some of the little things we already know we are going to miss. In no particular order:

711 - from late night beers and munchies to a quick lunch or dishwashing liquid, 711 has it all, without paying and arm or a leg!

PM: Boss coffee - my favourites are Gold and Rainbow, a perfect pick me up in the morning or arvo. The ads featuring Tommy Lee Jones aren't too bad either (check Youtube).

Vending Machines - the sheer convenience of so many vending machines can't be beat, if only vandals would leave them alone in Australia, we too could bask in the vending convenience. PM: Oh and our little flat had a Boss vending machine right out the front, location location location!

JH: Daiso (105 Yen Shop) - a place you can find everything you need, and all the things you never thought you did... and all at one super low price!

Ramen - of course we will miss all Japanese food, but Ramen (or Tsukemen in the summer) is our favourite. Upon leaving we estimate to have visited between 45 and 50 different places.

JH: Gyudon (file photo) - the only option for a late night snack. The 711 ones were particularly good.

JH: Flavoured Kit Kats - it seemed like every 2 weeks a new flavour came out... on top of that there are the different regional varieties!

Yebisu Beer - our favourite Japanese beer - although not to take anything away from Coopers which still remains our all time favourite. Also, strangely we are going to miss canned beer, cans are the norm in Japan, perhaps to reduce cost and waste, whatever the reason we became quite attached to slurping from the metal vessels.

Shochu - Japanese spirit that can be made from barley, wheat, rice, sugar and our favourite sweet potato, best enjoyed on the rocks.
Izakaya - there just isn't much to fault with being able to sit back and relax in your own little booth and eat and drink at basically any hour. Sure we missed the humble pub, but we think we will miss our regular izakaya visits too (particularly fun are the order by touchscreen ones).

3 comments:

  1. What about the great little sushi train place for less than a Maccas? Or the French pastries..? Or a hip flask of whiskey for under $3..??

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  2. I believe the winner of master chef wants to open an Izakaya style pub in Sydney so maybe it will fill a void???? The vending machines are amazing !!!!

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  3. and the Italian food! who would have thought Japan would have some awesome Pasta!

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