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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Gas Station Mysteries
I've lived near Shinjuku for about six years and I know the station you probably mean, the one on the corner of Yasukuni-dori near the overpass. Those old guys are a specific type, usually worked there since the 80s and they see everything. He might have been giving you the "you left your gas cap loose" look, which is a silent Tokyo judgment that happens more often than you'd think. Or maybe he just clocked your license plate and knew you were from out of the ward, some of those guys are nosy like that. If it really bugs you, go back during the day shift and you'll probably get a totally different vibe from the younger staff.
There is a specific breed of older gas station guys in Tokyo who have been doing the job since the bubble era and they definitely have a certain aura. Some of them are former mechanics or car enthusiasts who can tell a lot about a vehicle just by how it pulls up, so he might have spotted something off with your tires or alignment. If you were at a full-service station rather than the self-serve ones, they are trained to check your car over and sometimes that intensity is just them trying to decide if they should mention the dent or the low oil. The ones near Kabukicho are especially used to dealing with all sorts of late night characters, so a tired tourist probably doesn't even register as unusual to them.
Yeah, those older gas station guys in Tokyo can definitely have a vibe, especially the ones who've been at it forever. There's this one near Yotsuya where the night guy will just stare at your car like he's inspecting it for a defect, and I swear he's memorized every plate that comes through. You might have just caught him in a moment where he was zoning out or clocking something mundane, like your headlights being on.
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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.