[It's always exciting to be back in Tokyo. Yosuke still misses it every day, even though he's gotten used to country life over the years. There's just something about the city - the speed of everything, the crowds, the sounds, the lights, the constant movement. Always alive, always something going on, always something to see.
Today is a national holiday, which is what allowed him to take the trek into the city in the first place. Between that and the sales for Christmas and New Year's, the department stores in Ikebukuro are swarming with people. Even that dusty planetarium at the top of the Sunshine City building is trying to get in on the action with discount tickets.
But Yosuke is an insider. He knows the right places to go at a time like this.
Along one of the backstreets a few blocks from the subway station was a Mini Junes, crammed into a long but narrow seven-story building. The aisles were tight and packed to the ceiling with items, mostly made in Japan - everything you could possibly need, except for perishable groceries.
The third floors in these are always the dry goods, and because today is a holiday, the store's running the same promotion as always: free samples of holiday chocolates. Yosuke walks past the table, takes a sample, and disappears down a cramped aisle of made-in-China winter hats and beanies.
A few minutes later, someone who looks suspiciously like Yosuke, wearing a hat and pair of sunglasses (with tags still on them), emerges from an aisle on the other side, smoothly walks past the distracted store worker, and swiftly takes another sample before diving back among the racks.
Hah, this was always fun. It feels nostalgic. And it's a good way to eat for free, if you don't mind the sugar.]
I LOVE THAT IDEA
Today is a national holiday, which is what allowed him to take the trek into the city in the first place. Between that and the sales for Christmas and New Year's, the department stores in Ikebukuro are swarming with people. Even that dusty planetarium at the top of the Sunshine City building is trying to get in on the action with discount tickets.
But Yosuke is an insider. He knows the right places to go at a time like this.
Along one of the backstreets a few blocks from the subway station was a Mini Junes, crammed into a long but narrow seven-story building. The aisles were tight and packed to the ceiling with items, mostly made in Japan - everything you could possibly need, except for perishable groceries.
The third floors in these are always the dry goods, and because today is a holiday, the store's running the same promotion as always: free samples of holiday chocolates. Yosuke walks past the table, takes a sample, and disappears down a cramped aisle of made-in-China winter hats and beanies.
A few minutes later, someone who looks suspiciously like Yosuke, wearing a hat and pair of sunglasses (with tags still on them), emerges from an aisle on the other side, smoothly walks past the distracted store worker, and swiftly takes another sample before diving back among the racks.
Hah, this was always fun. It feels nostalgic. And it's a good way to eat for free, if you don't mind the sugar.]