Monday, December 27, 2004

Grocery Store shopping in Japan

Yesterday, I went exploring outside of the base with my bike. I think I rode over 15 miles. I can't imagine ever getting to the end of the peninsula by walking. I saw lots of cool stores. Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, McDonalds, and many other stores that resemble American stores such as Home Depot. The call it "Home" and the Seiyu (owned by WalMart) - "Living". The grocery stores were pretty cool. The fruits and vegetables are kinda strange. Some of the carrots and vegetables are kinda big. The remind me of that video game back in the late 80's, "Mario Brothers II" where you are supposed to uproot vegetables and throw them at enemy monsters. They were big like that, but not so huge that they won't fit in your shopping basket. One or two carrots would easily do for a pot of beefy stew! The food here is strange. The grocery store had many different isles. One isle was dedicated to different types of soy sauce. I didn't know that there were so many different types of soy sauce! There are so many different spices and mouthwatering pickled items. I actually tried some and they were very tasty. Japan isn't just about Fish, Sushi and Miso Soup. There is a whole universe of delicious food, spices, sweets and pasteries that just isn't sold in the U.S. The Japanese are really good at dressing up everything they sell. It must be an art to make the most mundane items and make them gorgeous pieces of art worthy of being cherished. They dress up a slice of fish and can really make it look super special. Their bread and cakes look absolutely delicious! I can go on and on. But man, this blog is making me a little bit hungry. Well, I'm going to log off now and go eat.

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