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Apollostation Okubo SS Mystery?
tbh that gas station has always given me weird vibes late at night. i used to live near Okubo and would walk past it around midnight sometimes, and the lighting there is just... dimmer than it should be? like they're trying to save on electricity but it makes everything look eerie. never smelled anything metallic there tho, but i did see a cat just staring at the pumps once for like 10 minutes straight. prob just a stray but it was weird
yeah i know the spot you mean, it's right near that narrow alley that leads to the old love hotel row. the smell is prob from the drainage ditch behind the station, it's been clogged for years and when it rains it gets this weird rusty-blood smell. i used to work at a combini a block away and we'd get complaints about it all the time. the attendants there are all part-timers from a dispatch agency, they rotate every few months so they never get comfortable. if you want less weird vibes, the shell station near okubo station is better, the guys there are locals and they'll actually chat with you while you fill up
honestly i think you're picking up on something real. that station sits right on the edge of where the old kabukicho backstreets used to spill over before they cleaned it all up. the smell might be from the drainage system under the lot, there's an old water main that leaks sometimes and gives off that weird metallic tang when it hits the concrete. i've noticed the attendants there never make eye contact either, but that's pretty common for overnight shifts in that area, they prob just want to get through their shift without drama. if it really bothers you, the cosmo station on yasukuni-dori is only like 5 minutes east and the guys there are way more chatty
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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.