Полезные советы для путешествий в Японию. Часть 3 - Еда в Японии в магазинах и супермаркетах

Еда в магазинах и супермаркетах

Конечно, в поездке всегда хочется посетить какое-нибудь аутентичное заведение, но в Японии каждый день расхаживать по ресторанам – накладно. Поэтому иногда можно закупиться едой в магазине и поесть в номере, благо выбор продуктов в японских супер- и минимаркетах весьма и весьма хорош.

Самым удобным местом для закупок, скорее всего, окажется магазин «у дома», минимаркет, в котором есть всего понемножку

Наверное, о них уже знают все. Удобно, что там можно купить не только еду, но еще и лейкопластырь, ручку, зубную щетку, солнцезащитный крем, колготки, журнал, а иногда даже рубашку и носки.

Из еды к вашим услугам такие вещи как сэндвичи - безумно вкусные и безумно калорийные, ибо делаются, как правило, из белой как снег булки с майонезом и прочими вкусностями. Мой любимчик – это сэндвич с фруктами и ягодами и, как правило, сливками вместо майонеза. 

В мои последние поездки чаще всего мне удавалось его найти в Family Mart-е, почему-то в других комбини он теоретически возможен, но практически отсутствовал.

Да и вообще хлеб в Японии – это всегда сдобные булки. В лучшем случае для бутерброда получится найти хлеб для тостов. Никаких тебе «бородинских» и ржаных лепешек. Теоретически в Японии существует цельнозерновой хлеб... Но в продаже он мне ни разу не попадался. Зато полка с выпечкой будет завалена всякими булками с начинкой из карри, слоеными булочками, «дынными булочками» мэлон-пан, вкус которых к дыне не имеет отношения, булочками с начинкой из сладкой бобовой пасты ан-пан, круассанами и прочими сдобными вещами, которые содержат слово "хлеб". 

В попытках не набрать на всем этом лишние кг я стала искать салаты. Тут надо сказать, что комбинация ингредиентов в японских салатах несколько специфичная. Чаще всего встречаются макароны либо пюрешечка с овощами, кукурузой, майонезом и ветчиной или креветкой. Ну, такое… Тоже не для худеющих. Популярные ингредиенты: фунчоза, лапша, макароны, картофельное пюре. Из него делают салат из картофеля, который по сути представляет собой пюре с овощами. 

Ещё есть кукуруза. Несмотря на то, что для кукурузы есть японское слово, оно обычно используется для обозначения растения в целом или початка, а сладкие зерна в составе продуктов пишут чаще катаканой. 

Еще японцы любят обжаренный тофу (в панировке). Панировочка как бы тоже намекает, что пора на тренажер.

Полностью овощных салатов в комбини на мой вкус маловато. Но все-таки можно найти что-то такое: что-то маринованное – какая-нибудь капуста, огурцы и пр., свежая капуста, огурцы, брокколи, салат-латук, водоросли, морская капуста вакамэ (это не то же самое, что водоросли), съедобные бурые водоросли хидзики (это тоже отдельный вид), спаржа, дайкон (редис), кунжут, салат из капусты (коулслоу). 

Еще можно встретить растительные ингредиенты, которые кому-то могут быть в новинку, такие как лопух, корень бамбука, корень лотоса, желе конняку, которое делают из клубней аморфофаллюса (господи, прости), окра (бамия) - жто такое диковинное растение, которое используют как типичный зеленый овощ.

Можно даже найти коробочку с готовым одэном - это супчик с вареными овощами, яйцами, тофу и сурими. 

Сурими – это такая плотная рыбная паста. Есть ещё "камабоко" - лепешки или трубочки из сурими, а также "кампэн" - лепешки из сурими с крахмалом, треугольные или полукруглые, как правило, специально для одэна. 

Впрочем, яичко вполне может продаваться отдельно, само по себе. 

Естественно, есть мясо и рыба: свинина, говядина, рыба, салями, 

тунец, курица. А ещё осьминог, креветка, краб, крабовые палочки, которые на самом деле не из краба. И

икра минтая, обычно острая. 

В супермаркетах выбор продуктов побольше, чем в минимаркетах, а особенно мне нравится вечерняя скидка на продукты (и нет, это не потому что они на исходе срока годности, просто в Японии считается, что их нужно срочно съесть, пока они свежие). Самая большая удача – это увидеть стикер "полцены". Помимо нормальных японских слов японцы еще любят употреблять англицизмы, поэтому наклейки бывают с надписью «20% OFF».

Что меня бесит в японских продуктах, так это то что на ценниках и на упаковке постоянно пишут какую-то лишнюю чушь. Вот, например, полное наименование товара:

1食分の野菜が摂れる　パリパリ麺のサラダ

Первая реакция – куда смотреть?! Из чего это?!

Смотреть, если что, в конец. Все остальное – в игнор. То что благодаря этому салату можно получить дневную норму клетчатки, а также то что лапша в нем свежая и хрустящая – это, конечно, ценная информация, но вплоть до последних 1-2 слов можно ничего не читать. 

Как ориентироваться в супермаркете

Пожалуй, особых проблем найти нужный товар нет: там, где холодно, – молоко и мясо, а там, где сладко пахнет – фрукты… Но если нужно быстро сориентироваться, то основные отделы магазина – вот:

- овощи и фрукты

- мясо и рыба

- яйца, молоко и молочные продукты

- готовые к употреблению повседневные блюда

В словаре их именуют «гарнир», но это необязательно он. В этой секции расположены и салаты, и котлетки, и маленькие порционные блюда типа онигири, и готовые обеды о-бэнто.

Хотя бэнтошки могут выделить в свой уголок. 

- хлебушек

- алкоголь

- соусы

- приправы

- cладости

- закуски, снеки

- напитки

Возможно, путешественникам пригодится

- лапша быстрого приготовления в пачке или в стакане

- чай и кофе

Наверняка я что-то забыла, но будем считать, что мне просто есть, куда расти.

 

 

IMHO. My Villainess quest. "Jishou akuyaku reijiou na kon'yakusha no kansatsu kiroku"

Usually a heroine who discovers she's reborn as a villainess demonstrates one of the two reactions: she either desperately tries to avoid becoming evil, or ignores being called one and goes away to her domain or another country. 

So at first glance,  "An Observation Log of My Fiancee Who Calls Herself a Villainess" is different. She's bravely embracing her destiny to become a villainess. And splendidly fails. 

And it would be absolutely boring if not for the fact that the focus shifts from this plain clumsy-but-cute-because-she's-in-love girl to her prince.

He's not the first lonely-and-bored male character who gets attracted to the blunt girl who explicitly states her feelings. However, he's one of the few, if not the first one, to be followed in such proximity throughout the whole series. 

So yes, 'Observation Log' was kind of surprising. Not in a sence you'd expect, but still.

The rest, however, is nothing outstanding, so labeling this anime 'the best ever' (like some users did on MAL) seems to me something only a very inexperienced otaku would do.

P. S. The language and manner of speaking in this anime are not difficult to understand, but I wouldn't recommend it as a source to learn Japanese because of the genre. Beginners will have hard time understanding the choice of wording in every given situation. 

IMHO. 'Sugar' ~ too sweet

Spoilers ahead.

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So... 

Alien comes to Earth and of course falls in love with jazz and the classical Hollywood movies from the golden era.

What else could he fall in love with, right..... I guess, it might have been classical music, but not this time.

Maybe you need to be brought up on these movies to appreciate constant interruptions of the main story with scenes from old films. So that every time you see one you're like "oh I know this it's classic!"

Everyone's unhappy with the sudden plot twist in the final episodes, but I'm unhappy with what was before them. Because it was a waste of my time. The mystery was not really mysterious, the characters were not charismatic, the atmosphere was... Wasn't, in fact. Yes, despite all those jazzy openings and fancy songs in the end rolls. Songs were good, by the way. They just weren't connected with the story in any way.

IMHO. "Witch hat atelier" ~ where we are right now

Seems like this show is basically a cross-section of modern anime. Yes, the world is beautiful and the story is fascinating, so much that I couldn't watch more than 2 episodes per day, so overwhelming it was.

The art was just stunning. 

The anime series included additional frames that weren't so pronounced in the original. And they were really good.

I like the fact that children stayed children even if they had to solve real adult problems like facing a huge fire-breathing dragon. 

However, if we look closely, the art style, the world, the story and the characters who are the driving force are all taken from the original manga. And everything else that an anime can offer is just... decent. 

The opening theme was okay. Wouldn't listen to it again. 

The ending theme was sheer torture and can be used to punish children. 

The soundtrack was all right, but I don't remember a single theme. 

Voice acting was just good, nothing more. Girls were just as they should be, but I wouldn't recognise any of them if I heard them again. Adults were more impressive, even though Natsuki Hanae sometimes gave off the fact he has another line of work (one that requires using an alias).

The biggest stars for me were, of course, the older generation of voice actors who really stand out - Mitsuki Saiga, Junichi Suwabe, Kotono Mitsuishi, Ryusei Nakao.

So yes, it's a hit, but only thanks to the mangaka. It's her that we should praise. The production committee of 'Atelier' simply did their job. 

IMHO. 'Hellsing Ultimate' ~ tonight's a good night?

Children always try to prove they're big enough and shouldn't be treated as little children. Little girls wear their mothers' high-heeled shoes and paint their faces with mothers' red lipstick. Little boys play skirmish games.

And create 'Hellsing Ultimate'.

The more there's blood and violence, the more graphic and explicit it is, the better the ranking. Why, of course! It means you're not watching those cartoons for little children, no! Instead you can proudly say you watch serious stuff for grown-ups. 

Sexy female characters being groped by monsters is also very adult.

Adding gothic orchestral music must help too.

Right?

Wrong.

Real big boys don't need all that. Big boys don't prove. They enjoy good music (especially blues), good wine (even if it's blood), and look like they are lazily playing a game they can stop whenever they please. Even if it's a fight to death.

Imho. How to lose money with Rewarble

First, I have to mention that Rewarble vouchers cost 5 to 10 percent more than their value according to my country's official dollar rate. But that's another story. 

So, you buy a voucher. Then

1. You pay initial card creation fee of 3.5$ + 5.5%
2. You pay 1$ + 5.5% every time you use your voucher to top up your card.
You pay 2.5$ monthly fee for nothing, because you still can't use your card.
You pay 1.5$ more so that you can use your card. It's called activation. So basically to have a normal usable card you pay 4$ a month.
3. You pay 0.3$ for every transaction. 
4. Your activation does not work as soon as you pay for it, so you pay 0.3$ for each unsuccessful attempt several times a day, until your card is manually activated by support team.
Your balance is not shown correctly so you don't know the real amount you have. If you don't have enough to cover your subscription, you're charged 0.3$ for each unsuccessful attempt several times a day. 
5. You run out of money and your card is paused again. So you also lose the money you paid for activation.
6. Or your card gets blocked because of broken partnerships of Rewarble. You create a new card, losing money on card creation fee of 3.5$ + 5.5%. One of those cases was compensated, the other wasn’t.
7. Or your card gets blocked because of ‘suspicious activity’. Even if the only activity was Google play. You create one more card, losing money on card creation fee of 3.5$ + 5.5%. 

Let’s see how much I have to spend, let’s say for 1 year of usage, let’s say with 3 purchases amounting to 25$ every month:

5$ for creating new card (because the initial top-up can’t be less than 25$) twice in one year

2.4$ for topping up 25$ every month

4$ for monthly and activation fees every month

0.3$ for every successful purchase 3 times every month

0.3$ for every unsuccessful purchase which happen 5 to 10 times every month because of failed balance update or activation problems or simply me forgetting to top up and activate

 

So that’s

10$ creation fees

2.4$ x 11 = 26.4$ topping up fees

4$ x 11 = 44$ monthly and activation fees

0.3$ x 3 x 12 = 10.8$ for successful purchases

0.3$ x 5 x 12 = 18$ for unsuccessful purchases in the best case scenario

Which totals to

109.2$ for one year usage ^o^

Some of those charges were on me, some weren’t…

For the same amount of money I could make myself a normal bank card from a foreign bank, but it would last several years and cause less worries. If not for the dire situation we're in, I wish I never used Rewarble. 

IMHO. "Odayaka kizoku" ~ a gentleman's...

What do you do when you realised you've been swept to another world you don't really know? 

You start patting everyone's head of course, touch their cheeks, call them good boys and sleep together holding hands. Not all the time, no. 

But frequently. 

Because it's a gentleman's vacation. A very gentle gentleman. 

Just pure male friendship between brave adventurers. 

If you manage to get past these cringy moments of touchy-feely friendship, you'll get a poorly designed fantasy adventure with a few dungeons and dragons, which could be developed into something interesting if its potential weren't wasted on the sugary sweet and pretty meaningless interactions between the male characters, all of them being just by coincidence young cutesie-wootsie faces.

If you enjoy pretty guys dining, travelling and filling documents together, this is for you. I'm afraid, I don't. 

Give me back my time, please.

P. S. 

The voice actors in this show have pretty good pronounciation, so using this series for listening comprehension might be a good idea if not for the fact that the characters switch between formal and informal speech very often. This inconsistency may bring more confusion than profit, so 'Odayaka' is probably not the best source for learning the language, unless you're already familiar with levels of politeness in Japanese. 

Osaka. Yes, again. Day 8

11:48, Ryokuchi park

I somehow failed to notice that a great place to see hydrangeas is just a couple of stations away from my hotel. So of course I had to place this big dot in the end of my flower-hunting journey. 

Maybe I should have called this trip "hydrangeas, yes, again".... 

I don't require roses but at least could you plants some flowers that are easy to maintain, my hometown authorities? 

Rhetorical question... 

14:17, Sumiyoshi taisha

Seems I was right coming one hour after the official start of the ceremony. Or maybe wrong because I didn't secure the best spot.

Today's a rice-planting festival. I would think rice is planted in spring, since it's warm enough already, but it seems like June is the season for the main island.

The names of women portraying messengers of gods and priestesses were called out by the host while they were moving. Seems like it's a honorary job.

There seem to be several small shrines within the premises. Bought myself a cute little guardian, who is supposed to invite family well-being into my home. 

Another new friend of mine. 

Osaka. Yes, again. Day 7

11:04, Hieizan

I mean, there was a person who came there and said "I'll climb this wild mountain and establish a temple on top". And then there were people who said "OK, there's a temple and a town so we kinda need a transport". And built a ropeway. These huge towers and a rope between them. If you ask me, that's impossible. Good thing they didn't ask me.

11:09, Garden museum Hiei

And there was someone who said "I'll build a garden on top of this mountain and then put impressionist paintings right in the middle of it!"

What?! 

This is my new friend by the way. 

16:51, Soiree cafe 

It's so popular people actually line up to visit. Popular and small, to be precise. 

Osaka. Yes, again. Day 6

12:11, Hanabishi restaurant in Koya

Who thought up this way of serving in small plates? It's so cute and appetising 😍

12:57, Koyasan

A small quiet city in the mountains. Hard to get, but now I don't want to go back... 

15:37, Gran Tenku train 

The train itself is very stylish. The windows in the restaurant car look like a TV set on a wall. If only it didn't sway so much! My head kept swaying for the next several hours. My friend said it's because the track of Nankai railway is old and narrow. I'm sorry Nankai but the journey was not pleasant. 

16:43, Takashimaya department store 

They brought me this as an appetiser and said it's a salad. Guys, you're wrong, it's a whole tomato 😂