Wild Health Tokyo


Rice paper sure looks nice and gives you that authentic Japanese experience - but it got down to around 38° last night. Rice paper and only one layer of glass do not insulation make! (I've decided, based on grammatical structure, that Master Yoda was speaking translated Japanese).

Cold it is in Fuchu
While I always suspected that we might be able to get all our paperwork done here in Japan, and therefore stay longer than just November, my faith apparently wasn't strong enough for me to bring my leather jacket or my wool peacoat. So now I'm having to layer my gray fleece "Charlene Martinez jacket" (ask her, she'll laugh) and my thrift store "unexpected-snow-in-Denver" windbreaker.

I sure could go for a nice hot cup of Charlie's Spic & Span chanate right about now. Coffee here is popular... and as strong as tea with milk. 

We went to Costco! It was like being back in the States for a couple of hours. It was HUGE and sample everywhere. I particularly liked the sauteed oysters (long line, though, and you only get half a mini-oyster).

This could be Albuquerque or Denver
And we found a turkey, a Butterball even! (Christmas is back on the calendar!) Thirty bucks for a 9 lb. bird, but it'll sure beat the meatloaf patty with bean sprouts that I had for Thanksgiving!

Looked like this...
Aside from the turkey (Lisa would say - "and the colbyjack cheese"), the best part about Costco was PIZZA. $3 for a big slice of real, cheesy, gooey Costco foodcourt pizza!

Now, it can't compare to a night at JC's New York Pizza in Las Vegas, but usually pizza here is... well... odd. Not "No, I didn’t order octopus" odd (that's actually ok. We had it often in Panama). More like, "the replicator just can't get it right, Captain" odd.

Dominos is the flagship pizzeria here, and if that wasn't bad enough, it's gone shamelessly native (imagine John McCain in a hula skirt). Asparagus with tofu, hotdog with Hershey kisses (I exaggerate), but still - weird non-canonical interpretations of a good ol' Mom & apple pie standby like pizza (dare you to click on that link).

It works too! See how my hair's coming back in...

So, with Coke Zero on tap, and free refills - "make mine Costco"!

I had the cheese slice, in case you were wondering...

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