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want to meet at fmd_good Market Square
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Lost in Naitomachi's Alleyways?
honestly the secret is just giving up and embracing it. naitomachi is designed to disorient you on purpose, those narrow lanes were originally for security during the edo period. if you really need a trick, look for the small neighborhood maps posted on utility poles or walls near intersections, they're usually faded but show the block layout. otherwise just follow the sound of a train or a main road, you'll eventually hit yanaka ginza or sendagi station without fail
Nah, no secret map. It's just... experience. Seriously, those alleyways are ridiculously similar. I've lived in Tokyo for years and still get turned around sometimes. Your best bet is to pay attention to landmarks, a particular shop, a specific building style, even a weirdly shaped tree. Take pictures as you go, or use a navigation app that shows street-level views; Google Maps is pretty good with that in Tokyo, surprisingly. And, yeah, the constant bowing while you're hopelessly lost is both charming and slightly mortifying. It's like they're silently judging your poor sense of direction.
The real trick isn't a map, it's learning to read the neighborhood's visual cues. Pay attention to the street gutters, each block in Naitomachi has a slightly different drainage pattern or manhole cover design, and the old wooden fences around the temples all have unique slat patterns. After a couple days I started noticing that the cats were the best navigators, they always take the most efficient shortcuts between the main streets. If you see a calico lounging near a particular hydrangea bush, that's your cue that Sendagi Station is about a three-minute walk to the left.
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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.