Omnon Food 食べ物

For some reason, food is always an interesting topic between cultures. 

     Maybe its because it is something with which we can easily make a clear distinction. Maybe because it appeals to more than one sense (taste, smell, sight). In Japan, it particularly appeals to multiple senses as food is supposed to "feed the eyes as well as the stomach". If you have any doubt about this, look up "bento boxes" or lunch boxes "松花堂弁当".

 (fried squid) 

In any case, tasting the food here in Japan is one of the things that I was very excited about as I prepared to travel overseas.  One of the unfortunate things that I've discovered is that it is possible to retain a western diet here. It takes some time and more money, but there are enough McDonald's and Denny's and western imports to create approximately the same. 

(Of course, even western restaurants make adaptations for their Japanese audience, but it seems to be close enough. McDonald's sells chocolate french fries!)

For my first week I had very little time and no kitchen, so I ate at convenience stores most of the days and occasionally restaurants at night. In Japan, convenience stores コンビニ　have a decent array of goods at not-too-expensive prices.  My most frequented are Seven-Eleven, Lawson's, and Mini-Mart.

My favorite is Onigiri or rice balls. These are packaged individually for a dollar apiece (roughly) and are basically a full meal on the go. On the loft is a sausage onigiri (which is actually a mixture between ham and spam... not sausage at all. Below is a meat onigiri of some sort which was made like a sandwich: rice, meat, rice and seaweed to hold it all together

There are also these great French bakeries in all of the train stations which are a self-serve buffet of pastries. YUM. Below is a bad photo of a strawberry something. (French food labeled in Japanese katakana... so IDK...)

I have also tried some prepackaged foods, like rice porridge.

And going out to eat. The black seaweed stuff on the top right is an acquired taste. Eggs are EVERYWHERE in Japanese food. The brown thing in the bowl is kitsune (fox) tofu which is fried in soy sauce and sugar. The tempura on the plate is some kind of ocean meat... tasted like the imitation crab meat. 

Speaking of eggs being everywhere, here is my new notebook. This strange egg man is named Gudetama, the lazy egg. I have not decided yet whether he is cute or disconcerting.

More eggs! Below is a BLT, which comes with egg.

When I asked one of my Japanese friends why eggs are so popular, they said it is because they taste good and go with everything... Eggs certainly are inexpensive, and taste good (in my opinion) and prevent me from handling odd, unidentified food stuffs. I know what eggs are. 

Now that I am in my city and have gone shopping (and bought real food) I will have to do a post about that, but that will be another post for another day...