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Should I buy a bicycle?
Should I buy one and use it to practice? Or just s… I'm planning on buying a bicycle since I get tired of walking and carrying heavy stuff (groceries, etc). But I don't know how to ride a bicycle yet.
Should I buy one and use it to practice? Or just stick to walking?
Also, can I practice riding a bicycle in parks here in Tokyo? Will no one judge me for it?
learning to ride in tokyo is def possible, i see people practicing in inokashira park all the time, just go early like 7am on a weekend and its mostly joggers and dog walkers who wont care. the main thing is finding a bike thats low to the ground so u can put ur feet down easily, a mamachari with a step-through frame is perfect for that. for groceries it'll save ur arms big time, specially if u get a front basket and maybe a milk crate bungeed to the back rack, i used to haul stuff from the life supermarket near nakano broadway no problem
honestly learning as an adult in Tokyo is totally doable, just pick a quiet spot like arakawa riverbank or yoyogi park early morning on a weekday. way less awkward than you think, most people are too busy to care. for groceries a bike is a game changer, I used to haul bags from okachimachi and my arms would die. just get a cheap mamachari from a local shop, they're sturdy and easy to balance on.
buying a bike before knowing how to ride is actually fine, just get a cheap used one from somewhere like craiglist japan or the recycle shops in shimokitazawa, no point spending real money until you're confident. for practice, the plaza behind tokyo tower at like 6am on a sunday is dead empty, i've seen adults wobbling around there plenty. just don't try learning on a main road near shinjuku or something, you'll hate life. the basket space really does help with groceries, i used to carry a whole watermelon from the kinokuniya in azabu juban on mine no problem
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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.