I took way too many photos, so I’m posting them in several parts.

Carioca beans

Apparently these are beans used in Brazilian home cooking, and the supermarket just sells them, you know? It made me wonder how many Brazilians must live in Hamamatsu for a store to stock something like this.

Mini Wangttukkeong

Turns out Faker has made it to Japan too..

Sapporo Potato Long

This one was meh..

Zeppin Kappa Ebisen

It’s anchovy garlic flavor, and being on the salty side, I think it makes a good snack with drinks.

Meiji Tokachi Camembleu

It’s a camembert with blue cheese in it. Yotsuba has something similar that I’ve been happily eating, but this one is tasty too. The funky blue cheese smell is strong, which I absolutely love, but I can see some people hating it.. I bought it at Don Quijote for 400 yen and thought that was a steal, and sure enough other places charge around 600 yen.. I should stock up while I can get it cheap.

Yamazaki baguette

Not great. I’ll just buy my baguettes from a proper bakery..

Mitsuya Plum

A light fruity soda that’s perfect for summer. It’s so hot that I end up just chugging it.

Hakata Mentai Potato, made with Kanefuku mentaiko

There was a decent amount of mentaiko in it, and I enjoyed it.

Suntory ginger ale

Pretty drinkable. And it’s not expensive either.. I’ve been drinking nothing but terrible ginger ales lately, so this is more than I could ask for.

Kata-age Potato, Ise-ebi salt flavor

I couldn’t really tell if it tasted like spiny lobster; it was salty and perfectly edible, but I don’t think I’d buy it again.

Orchard House Highball

I do like Compass Box, but this highball wasn’t all that great. People say the Orchard House whisky itself is a bit better than the highball, but even that doesn’t get great reviews.. The can design is pretty, though.. With whisky so popular now, it’s not as easy as it used to be to get hold of good stock, so I guess these are tough times for blending houses like this.. They still always deliver something above average, but there was a time when everything they released was a home run, so it’s a bit of a letdown. Anyway.. I hope whiskies like this sell well and make them lots of money, so it helps them put out other great whiskies.

Lawson’s Sichuan-style mapo tofu

The tofu falls apart, but the Sichuan flavor comes through nicely, and it was pretty tasty. Lawson is really on a roll these days..

A-shot-chu (iced tea with an espresso shot)

Something like this showed up at the convenience store.

50% more

Seven-Eleven was running this kind of thank-you promotion.

50% here too

It’s a chocolate bread, and I was surprised by how huge it was. Since it was a big portion, I bought one.

Misokin rich miso ramen

This is YouTuber HIKAKIN’s miso ramen, and it was really good. I kept thinking, how on earth is the level this high? Then I tried Saimi’s miso ramen and realized it’s in the same vein. I guess Nissin picked up the know-how while making that one and is now using it all over the place. The original is Saimi, of course.. Anyway, it’s tasty, so if you spot it, it’s worth grabbing.

Donbei Katsuo Dashi no Kiwami

So basically it’s a Donbei that goes all in on simple bonito dashi, but is it tastier than regular Donbei? Not really, it just tastes of bonito dashi all the way through. If you like that style you’ll probably love it, but I think it comes down to personal taste.

Udon version

Same flavor, different noodles.

Malatang

I bought it because it’s supposedly kind of famous right now, and it’s pretty spicy. But I couldn’t really figure out why it’s so popular..

Kaju Gummy Dark Cherry Mix, 100% juice

This one was just okay. The flavor was intense, but the chewiness wasn’t really my thing..

Night view

Just snapped a shot.

A bagel from BAGELi

There’s an Instagram account that sells bagels, so I tried them and they were good. But since there’s no actual shop and they sell at irregular times, ordering isn’t easy.

Ise-ebi senbei

A snack someone brought back from a trip to Ise Grand Shrine. Tasty, but it feels a bit pricey..

Ise-ebi potato chips

It feels like there are a lot more potato chips like this these days. I remember seeing something similar in Kobe too. Anyway, the taste is above average. Not great value for the price, though.

Lizard

When you live close to nature, you run into little guys like this a lot..

Nasal sprays

These are sprays that keep hay fever in check. I’ve been using Flunase for a long time, and it works well, but it’s a bit awkward to use. The instructions say to press just once, but sometimes one press doesn’t get the pump going.. So I’m going to try some other products that are a little less potent but easier to use. In theory they’re weaker, but so far I haven’t had any real problems, and they’re actually easier to use. They seem fine.

For reference, in Korea you have to go to a doctor and get a prescription to use sprays like these, though once you have the prescription they work well. But if going to the doctor is a hassle, buying them in Japan like I do seems like a fine option. They’re not that expensive anyway..

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