Thoughts about Japan

[ellen_datlow]

I've been thinking about my recent trip, still digesting. (and finally getting over jetlag).

I was especially impressed by the Japanese RR stations of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kanazawa--each was beautiful in its own way. In Tokyo, the back end of the building is relatively old and made out of brick. The front entrance is very modern. I'm sorry I didn't take ever more photos of the three stations I spent time in than I did. Each station has food for sale that is fresh and varied--even in small stations you can buy the local "delicacy" to eat on the train. In Tokyo and Kyoto the stations are connected to underground malls-multi malls in Tokyo. Yes, there are (alas) Starbucks there and some other crappy intrusions from the west, but mostly there are restaurants that show their wares in front (the plastic food)--which makes it easy to point out what you want when you don't know what to ask for. Or you can buy a bento box type lunch/dinner at the many "deli" equivalents in every station. In Tokyo's mall there is a giant department store that has one floor (or two--maybe the one that had two was in Kyoto Station) of food markets---from mochi to french pastries for dessert to pickles, tempura, niguri (spelling) rice triangles stuffed with tuna, pickles, or other stuff, noodle dishes, all kinds of fish--raw or cooked, etc etc. Eileen and I went down there at least twice before traveling somewhere as John stayed with our baggage upstairs.

The malls in the stations seem much more interesting than most of ours (possibly because they're foreign to me? But I think not).

Comments

[jeffspock.livejournal.com]

We just went back as a family eleven years after my wife and I left. We found Starbucks useful for one reason -- getting pancakes for young kids who can only handle rice and cold fish for breakfast a certain number of days in a row.
The bento boxes were a wonderful source of amusement and entertainment; even having lived there sometimes you can find no other word for the food than "the squishy brown thing" or "the stringy purple stuff."

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Even I could only handle rice and pickles and noodles for breakfast or lunch for a limited time, which is why I ended up eating cornflakes and milk or cocoa krispies (for the first time in over 40 years) for breakfast at the Asia Center Hotel buffet sometimes.