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Apollostation Okubo SS Nightmare?
it's tucked away off the main road near okubo station, not the easiest spot to spot on first go. the station itself is small with two pumps, looks more like a repair shop from the outside tbh. i'd plug it into google maps and look for the 7-eleven across the street, that's your landmark. if you hit the okubo police box you've gone too far
If you're coming from the Shinjuku side, take the road that runs parallel to the JR tracks rather than following the main street. The station sits right where that road bends slightly, so if you see a koban with a blue roof on your left, you've passed the turn. Also, the pump hoses are short enough that you'll want to pull in from the northbound side, otherwise you'll be stretching the hose across your car's roof.
I live a few blocks from here and I'd say the real headache isn't finding the station itself, it's the timing. Try to hit it after 10pm or before 7am, otherwise you'll be waiting behind a line of taxis that treat this place like their personal pit stop. The pumps are positioned so you have to pull in at a weird angle from the street, so give yourself extra room if you're in a bigger car.
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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.