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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Finding the old swings?
walk past the school and take the first left after the family mart, there's a tiny soba shop that's been there since 1952. the old lady who runs it went to okubo elementary in the 60s, she might remember if the swings had any special stories. her place has the original wooden menu board and a clock that stopped in 1978, feels like stepping into your grandpa's memories
the tobacco shop guy is your best lead honestly, i've seen his photo collection and it's wild. but if u want to actually feel something creepy, go to the little playground behind the love hotel district on omekaido, about 10 mins walk. there's a single swing there that's been broken since the 90s, just sits there rusted and tilted. the locals ignore it completely. not your grandpa's but it's got that same energy, especially at dusk when the neon from the hotels lights it up weird
Yeah, those old swings are long gone - the school got a full rebuild in the late 80s after the big earthquake retrofitting push. But if you want that old school Tokyo nostalgia, head to the ramen shop on the corner of Waseda-dori, it's been there since the 50s and still has the same creaky wooden counter your grandpa probably sat at.
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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.