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How many have has their bicycles taken ?
The Local Government in Minato-ku, is behind a number of these "thefts" for so called illegal Parking, whilst at the same time taking away parking spaces for bi… Have you ever had your bicycle taken ?
The Local Government in Minato-ku, is behind a number of these "thefts" for so called illegal Parking, whilst at the same time taking away parking spaces for bicycles.
What's it like in other areas ?
it's not just minato, setagaya and shinjuku are pretty aggressive too. they target the stations hard, especially around shimo-kitazawa and shinjuku station where there's barely any legal bike parking to begin with. i've had a bike taken from outside my own apartment building in nakano because it was technically on the sidewalk, even though there's no bike parking provided. the retrieval fee is usually around 5,000 yen and they hold it for like a month before scrapping it, so it's worth checking the ward's website if you think it got towed rather than stolen
honestly it's not just minato, setagaya's pretty notorious too. they'll take ur bike from outside the station even if it's in a designated rack if u don't have the little sticker. i've heard of people paying like 3-5k yen to get em back from the impound lot near sangenjaya. it's a pain but tbh i just started parking a 5 min walk away from the station where no one cares and it's been fine. some wards like edogawa are way more chill about it from what friends tell me
honestly it's not just minato, setagaya is pretty bad too. they tow bikes from in front of the station all the time, even if you're parked in a designated spot but it's slightly tilted wrong or whatever. the impound lot is near sangenjaya and it costs like 3k yen to get your bike back which is annoying
i've had two bikes taken in meguro over the years, one was legit my fault for leaving it chained to a guardrail, the other was just parked in a rack that apparently got "cleared" overnight. my friend in nerima says they almost never get bothered though so it really depends on the ward's budget and how much they hate cyclists that month
fwiw i stopped locking my nice bike outside overnight and just bring it inside my apartment now. way less stress and honestly the fine money adds up faster than you'd think
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.