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How has living in Tokyo influenced your perspective on work-life balance?
I used to have a few nights per week where I just chill alone at… My work life balance is so much worse since I moved to Tokyo. Everybody's busy. I spend hours commuting. Everything involves alcohol.
I used to have a few nights per week where I just chill alone at home or meet friends spontaneously. Now I feel like if I want to have a beer with a friend, it won't happen unless we schedule it three weeks in advance. I barely ever have time to watch a movie.
A friend said Tokyo's all about "ichigyo-zammai", giving your all to one thing at a time. It's like a zen focus hack that strangely makes you more productive. Anyone tried that?
yeah the commute thing is brutal. i moved from nerima to near daikan-yama and my commute went from 70 mins door to door to about 25 on the tokyu toyoko line. that shift alone changed everything for me, i actually have energy to read or cook on weeknights now
the alcohol thing is optional even if it doesn't feel like it. i started saying "i'm doing dry january" in march and nobody even blinked. now i just order oolong tea at nomikai and leave after 90 minutes. the trick is having a real excuse ready like a morning class at gold's gym in ebisu
for the scheduling thing, i started doing standing invites. like every other thursday i'm at this yakitori place in shimbashi called torisho, and i just tell people to show up if they're free. some weeks it's just me and the owner, some weeks there's five people. way less pressure than coordinating three calendars
the ichigyo-zammai thing is real but i think people miss that it applies to rest too. my neighbor is this old guy who spends sundays at a sento in Uguisudani for like four hours just rotating between baths and napping on the tatami. that's his one thing for the day and he's completely unbothered about work the rest of the week
the commute thing is rough but try living near a tsukiji market area or somewhere with a sento close by so you can actually decompress before going home. i go to Takara-yu in Senju sometimes and it's 500 yen for a full soak, way better than drinking just to reset
the alcohol pressure is real but you can redirect it. i tell people i'm doing a "library night" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Library in Minami-Azabu and they actually respect it because it sounds productive. nobody questions you if you say you're studying something work-adjacent even if you're just reading manga on your phone
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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.