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want to meet at fmd_good Forno Centrale
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Okubo's Ghost Stories?
imo the school thing is overhyped but the real creepy spot in okubo is the old public bath that closed down a few years ago on the street behind the korean supermarket. the building's just sitting there boarded up with this faded sign and if you peek through the gaps you can still see the changing room lockers inside. a friend of mine went urban exploring there and said the tiles in the bath area are still damp which is weird for a place that's been empty since 2019
yeah the bell thing is probably just the crossing at okubo station, that chime carries way further than you'd think. the school itself is just an old building, nothing special tbh. if you want actual creepy go wander the backstreets between okubo and higashi-shinjuku around 2am, there's this one alley behind the love hotel row that feels like a different dimension. i know someone who swears they saw a woman in a white dress standing under a streetlight that wasn't there when they looked back. probably just a trick of the light but still.
honestly the okubo elementary thing is more of a local meme than anything actually scary. i grew up in shinjuku and we used to dare each other to go there after dark, never saw a ghost but the old building does creak like crazy at night. the bell story is probably just some drunk salaryman messing with it, that area gets pretty lively around the korean town part after midnight.
if you want real spooky vibes in tokyo, skip the school and head to aoyama cemetery at dusk. way more history there and the atmosphere is legit, plus you get the contrast of all those fancy shops right next to it.
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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.