.::* Living and Dreaming *::.

Bento Boxes, Pink Mold and Grocery Store for the Elderly

...that's what the highlights of the rest of the work week consisted of. I should probably add blisters from my guitar lessons but that's really not that interesting.

Bento Boxes (Japanese lunch boxes): My 3rd guitar lesson was with Gon Chan who brought along a wonderful delight for lunch. A bento box made by his mom. It was really pretty lunch and I was really envious. First because I had to make my own lunches after elementary school and second, I never put in any effort for an elaborate lunch...though at one time I did experiment with mangos and mint leaves. Anyways, I asked lots of questions because I was really curious. Apparently, Gon Chan's mom makes him a bento box every morning and he is the only family member to get one. You're wondering so what? Well, looking at the details of his lunch, it looked like his mom made 3 or 4 different dishes packed into what looked like paper cups that you bake muffins in and she also decorated his rice with a sour plum or something to make it look like the flag of Japan. So much effort! I feel sorry for my future children because I openly admit that I am NOT a morning person!
The next day, Gon Chan brought another bento box with him and I just had to take another picture.
Pink Mold: I was only slightly curious at first to find that my Spam had turned pink after I left it in the fridge for a month. I wasn't familiar with Spam so I didn't think much of it when I threw it out. But a couple nights ago, I opened a jar of mushroom sauce that I had also left in the fridge for too long to find more pink mold. My conclusion? In Japan, mold is slimey pink and not fuzzy green. I will have to confirm that by leaving my bread somewhere to rot though. Stay tuned for that!

Grocery Store for the Elderly: So biking home from guitar lesson yesturday, I biked past a grocery store that had bananas outside for about $1 per bundle of 5. I was like score, turned my bike around and decided to do my grocery shopping there. (Produce is expensive in Japan and I haven't been getting my fill of fruits because of it.) Anyways, the grocery store already looked kind of sketchy, then when I walk in, I only saw old people. My first thought was, "I really hope I'm not trespassing into the elderly territory and that I don't need a senior citizen card to shop here." But I was already inside and I had a defence maneuver...speak English and people will leave you alone. I was craving fish so I walked over to the fish counter and looked at the selection. A cute old woman walked over to me to try to talk about the fish to me until I finally broke it to her in English that I couldn't understand her.

Instead of backing off, she got really excited. She kept pointing at me while talking to her husband and tried to give me advice on the fish still. I decided on some salmon because that's all I can recognise and I think she tried to tell me to cook it in butter or something. Anyways, I proceeded to pay. She caught sight of the Canadian flag I had stiched on my backpack and got excited again. Her husband asked how old I was and if I was in homestay or something, etc. I finally got out of there and with a 15 cent discount on my fish. :)

That night I happily cooked my fish. I don't think I did a good job though. It was dripping with butter and not in a nice way. Oh well, it was all fun.

posted by ~diana~ @ 9:45 PM