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Lost my lunchbox?
ngl that tamagoyaki detail got me. the real culprit is the shoe locker system at most tokyo elementary schools. kids shove their bento in there with their uwabaki and it just disappears into a void of identical cloth pouches. i've seen piles of unclaimed lunchboxes at my nephew's school in nakano, they just sit there until golden week. the playground is a decoy, the real crime scene is those wooden lockers by the entrance.
Man, that's a classic. Takes me back. I think it's the combination of overwhelming sensory input, new environment, new people, everything is exciting and slightly terrifying, plus a complete lack of executive function. We're talking about eight-year-olds, their brains aren't wired for remembering where they put their lunchbox amidst a playground maelstrom. It's like... a perfect storm of adorable forgetfulness. Plus, those things are easy to lose. I've seen grown adults lose things way easier to track than a kids lunchbox! And the emotional impact is massive for them, because that Tamagoyaki was probably the most amazing thing ever.
the real issue is the kid culture of "borrowing" snacks. i grew up in adachi and kids would just trade onigiri mid-recess, your lunchbox would end up on the other side of the playground with someone else's name on it. the first week is a free-for-all, everyone's trying to swap tamagoyaki for convenience store pudding. your grandma's lunch was probably too good, that orange was prime trading material
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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.