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want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Things to do in Tokyo?
honestly the best thing for me when work gets heavy is just walking aimlessly around the shitamachi areas like Yanaka or Nezu. no plan, no maps, just wander the old streets and find a random senbei shop or a tiny shrine. the quiet there is totally different from the rest of the city, and it resets your head faster than any spa
if you want something more active, try a morning rowing session at the Todoroki Rowing Club in Futako-Tamagawa. it's like 2,000 yen for a rental and you're out on the river before the city wakes up. the rhythm of the oars is basically meditation but with a workout thrown in
also don't sleep on the public bathhouses in your neighborhood. find a sento with a rotenburo and just soak for 45 minutes after work on a friday. the one near me in Shimokita is 480 yen and they have a cold bath that wakes you right up. way better than drinking alone at a standing bar
The Tsukiji outer market on a weekday morning is a completely different experience from the weekend chaos. If you can swing a Friday off, go around 7am, grab tamagoyaki from Marutake and a bowl of kaisendon from Daiwa Sushi, then just watch the wholesalers work. The whole place has this focused energy that makes your own stress feel small for a bit.
You might also like the Todoroki Valley trail in Setagaya. It's a 20 minute walk through a real ravine with a stream and a waterfall, right in the middle of the city. The entrance is near Todoroki Station and it's free, takes about an hour if you go slow. I go there when my brain feels like static.
fwiw the shinjuku gyoen national garden is my go-to when i need to unplug. the english garden section is usually empty on weekday afternoons and there's this one bench near the big greenhouse where you can hear the fountain but not the traffic. entry is 500 yen and you can stay as long as you want, i've fallen asleep there more than once
also worth checking out the free tea ceremony at the hama-rikyu gardens on the first sunday of each month. it's a tiny pavilion right on the water and you sit on tatami watching the boats go by while some old lady in kimono makes you matcha. the whole thing takes like 20 minutes and costs nothing extra beyond the garden entry. feels like a secret most tourists miss
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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.