Day 6: Down Time
On the sixth day it rained.
I pretty much stayed indoors until the afternoon when the weather let up, then I went out to forage for food. Japanese have two amazing conveniences: the konbini and the hyaku-en.
The konbini is a convenience store, hence the Japan-ized name, but it really a micro grocery store with less junk food and more real food than American stores. They have fresh ready made meals that the store clerk will offer to microwave for you. Without my local konbini I probably would have starved by now. Konbini's like KusKus, Family Mart and Lawson's can sometimes be found two or three to a block. And Japanese tend to be scrupulously honest. When I can't pick out the right change to pay for the purchase, the clerk will apologize/ask permission and pick the right coins from my hand.
The hyaku-en is literally a "hundred-yen" store with everything from snacks to cleaning supplies - snacks are up front, cleaning supplies in back - all for 100 yen apiece. There are at least four within ten minutes walk from my apartment. Each hyaku-en carries a slightly different variety of merchandize, so it pays to visit a few to find just the right item. Stocking is a bit irregular, but the savings over regluar stores can be considerable.
I pretty much stayed indoors until the afternoon when the weather let up, then I went out to forage for food. Japanese have two amazing conveniences: the konbini and the hyaku-en.
The konbini is a convenience store, hence the Japan-ized name, but it really a micro grocery store with less junk food and more real food than American stores. They have fresh ready made meals that the store clerk will offer to microwave for you. Without my local konbini I probably would have starved by now. Konbini's like KusKus, Family Mart and Lawson's can sometimes be found two or three to a block. And Japanese tend to be scrupulously honest. When I can't pick out the right change to pay for the purchase, the clerk will apologize/ask permission and pick the right coins from my hand.
The hyaku-en is literally a "hundred-yen" store with everything from snacks to cleaning supplies - snacks are up front, cleaning supplies in back - all for 100 yen apiece. There are at least four within ten minutes walk from my apartment. Each hyaku-en carries a slightly different variety of merchandize, so it pays to visit a few to find just the right item. Stocking is a bit irregular, but the savings over regluar stores can be considerable.
posted by Scott at Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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