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Old man asks me to paint my house yellow?
Thinking he might… At about 8 this morning an older man rang my doorbell to ask for yellow paint. I was confused, even more so when he started miming painting my walls and saying it would look pretty.
Thinking he might have the wrong address, I explained that we rented the house, then he apologised and rang the next house's doorbell, and then the next all the way down the street.
Am I missing something, or was that just a bit weird? This all took place in Japanese, so it's possible I misheard cause I'm hardly fluent.
yeah that's just a thing sometimes. we've got a guy in my part of setagaya who goes door to door offering to paint people's storm shutters in "sakura pink" every spring. he's been doing it for years.
if he's polite and not pushy it's prob harmless. could be he's just bored or trying to feel useful. if he comes back just say "moushiwake arimasen ga, iro wa kore de ii desu" and he'll move on quick. the miming thing is pretty standard for when they're not sure about your japanese level tbh.
honestly sounds like your standard neighborhood ojisan who's got too much time and a mission. there's a guy in my neighborhood who goes around with a bucket and brush offering to "freshen up" people's mailboxes in whatever color he found on sale at the home center that week. he hit our whole block in about twenty minutes last summer.
it's prob just his way of being social or feeling useful, not a scam or anything. if he comes back just say "iie, daijoubu desu" and he'll move on. happens more than you'd think in the quieter wards.
That was probably just an old neighborhood character. There's a guy in my ward who goes around offering to repaint people's fences or gates in whatever color he's fixated on that week. Sometimes they're just lonely and looking for an excuse to chat with neighbors, and the paint thing is a conversation starter that doesn't really go anywhere. If he comes back, a firm "kekkou desu" usually does the trick.
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.
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