The Office Lunch Bento

Here's a picture of a typical daily lunch bento, about $3.50. It is delivered to the office by an outside company each day, which is really convenient. It comes with miso soup. At the end of the month, the company deducts the cost from my pay check. Of course, the lunch bento is optional. I find that just under 50% of the people in the office order it. The rest head out on the streets to local restaurants, soup shops, bento shops, convenience stores, etc.

The lunch bento menu is different each day and the meal is designed to be dietetically balanced for food groups, calories, etc. The first few months after I arrived here I wondered how I could order 2 of them as I was never full after just one. Now, I sometimes don't eat all of the rice as I have learned to stop eating before my stomach feels completely full. It's very cultural to stop eating when the stomach feels about 70-80% full.

Most of the people that don't order the lunch bento tell me that they may not be in the mood for a particular menu on a particular day, so they would rather see what their food mood is on a given day and then find it nearby. As for the taste? Well, it is cafeteria grade food, but for the cost and convenience, it’s a lot better than heading out in rain/cold weather or hot/humid weather. After eating the lunch bento, some folks take a nap at their desk. Others head off to the smoking room. I prefer taking a walk outside to stretch my legs and see what new stuff has arrived in shops nearby, or just to observe the lunch time culture of people whirling around.

Tokyo Car

While on my lunch break the other day, I spotted the perfect car for maneuvering the crowded city streets. This car can be parked almost anywhere.

A Trip to Okinawa

This past week we decided to take a family vacation to Okinawa. Mio found a discounted package tour which included airfare, hotel, most of our meals, sightseeing, and so forth. It was my first Japanese tour, so I was not exactly sure what to expect.

The first day consisted of taking 2 trains to get to the airport, flying to Okinawa, then getting on the tour bus once we arrived. There were about 30 people in our tour group. There was a mixture of ages from infant to senior citizen. A couple of family groups were in our tour. It is not uncommon to see families travel together here, whether they are related or just friends.

The second day we took a boat about 20 minutes to a nearby island for a day in the sun. The boys had a super time. The beach was similar to the beaches in Tahiti with coral sand and a very long, shallow bay to play around in. The water was as warm as bath water and there were lots of colorful tropical fish swimming all around. Tommy was especially fascinated with the hundreds and hundreds of hermit crabs all around. He even learned firsthand what it feels like to be pinched by one!

After a day in the sun, we took the boat back to Okinawa and boarded the bus for dinner. We ate at a fun place similar to Benihana. The boys got to drink fruit punch out of cups shaped like skulls. The highlight of the day was Tommy learning how to dog-paddle on his own.

Day 3 started with a morning swim in the hotel pool and nearby ocean, then a bus ride to a butterfly and beetle park, a huge aquarium, and a pineapple farm. For dinner we went to a dinner show to see the old Okinawa dancing and singing in a location made up like an old Okinawa village.

The 4th day included another show at the nearby Okinawa village which consisted of a mongoose and snake followed by a 3-D movie of their interactions in nature. Then it was off to the international shopping district for some shopping before heading to the airport. While shopping we found a Vietnamese restaurant where Mio got to have her favorite lunch, Pho. Boy was she happy.

As I mentioned before, I have never been on a Japanese tour before. It was quite interesting. There were 2 leaders of the tour. One handled the details of times, tickets, etc. The other was the bus girl. The entire time we were on the bus, the bus girl stood at the front of the bus and filled the time with trivia, history, song, and other musings about the area we were presently in. She sure gave that PA system a workout. The tour guide was efficient with tickets and other arrangements. We stayed in typical Japanese family hotels. Sparse on technology and gadgets because the focus is on relaxing, not staying in touch. This was a nice change from business hotels. And most of the meals were buffet style with a mixture of Japanese and western food. There were no other foreigners in site in any of our hotels or bus trips. It was kind of nice in that there were no awkward moments.