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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Machida tour guide?
You won't find many commercial tour guides in Machida because the industry mostly focuses on central Tokyo. That said, the city's own Machida Citizen's Guide group offers free walking tours in English if you book a week ahead through their city hall website. I've used them before for a friend's visit and they took us through the Yakushiike Park area, which has a nice pond and some old Edo-period irrigation channels. If your parents are into nature, the Machida Squirrel Garden is a 15 minute bus ride from the station and costs 500 yen, the guides there are usually happy to chat with visitors even if their English is basic.
another option is to look up the machida international association, they do a host program where locals volunteer to show people around for free. i had my cousin use it last year and they paired her with a retired guy who took her to the serigaya park and the old folk museum nearby, which has a thatched roof house and tools from the edo period. your parents would probably enjoy that more than a scripted tour anyway, and it's way more personal
honestly most tour guides skip machida because it's not a typical tourist spot but that's kinda the charm. your parents could just take the odakyu line from machida station down to tsurukawa for the zenpukuji temple, it's a 5 min walk from the station and has a nice old cemetery with a lot of history. if they want a guide, try reaching out to the machida city tourism office directly, the staff there speak some english and can sometimes set up a local volunteer guide for free
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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