Tag: japan

48 Minutes in Japan

Following on the heels of the quickie Munich visit…we spent even less time in Japan, and it was just in the Tokyo Haneda airport, but still, it was enough time to have our minds blown.

We made a beeline for duty free, to procure a couple of bottles of IW Harper bourbon, on a tip from a friend in Bangkok. Apparently, the Japanese, being the Japanese, liked this bourbon so much they just made a deal with the American distillery to buy all of it and sell it only in Asia. It’s good, and comes in a pretty bottle, along with 800 other types of whiskey I’ve never heard of.

OK, Crown Royal I've heard of.

Then we used the bathroom. Sweet Jesus, but which bathroom?

I just looked up 'ostomate.' They really have every base covered here.

I could’ve spared myself the decision-making if I’d just gone in this bathroom, but it was frankly a little scary.

Off-camera to the left: a full padded bed.

And then…did you know they even make modern squat toilets? I did not. Please admire the support bar.

The shelf in the back is for leaving your kid on, according to the symbols on the door.

After navigating that bit of craziness, we needed sustenance. To the ANA lounge!

I know everyone’s seen a bottle of Pocari Sweat by now. But have you seen a pitcher of Pocari Sweat?

ANA has my electrolyte needs covered.

There was also coffee from a machine that ground beans on demand. And beer from what looked like a soda fountain, but which tipped your glass to the appropriate angle for perfect foam.

And also in the liquids department, they had this adorable soy-sauce portion, for titrating one drop at a time onto your surprisingly satisfying rice balls filled with something pink.

Precision in all things

But this is where things got really delightful:

Before

Like you, I was thinking sundae toppings. But no. Here they are in action in my miso soup, still looking like candy:

After

Later, on our flight, the mind-bending continued. I only have this pic, in which the item on the lower right involves fish eggs, and the strawberries were steeped in vinegar with juniper berries. And after that, there was a whole series of disturbing-looking things–including a dry and slightly withered shrimp, a cube of brown jelly with shreds of things floating in it, and a gray chalky thing that looked like a rock but wasn’t–that were incredibly tasty and vaguely fishy.

Very tempted to steal the teeny spoons.

Apparently, all those Spanish chefs with their nitrogen tanks and their hydrocolloids are really working their asses off to recreate what’s just the daily experience in Japan. Next time, we’ll stay for longer.

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