beyond toxicity

*WARNING :  This post can make you SALIVATE  &  FEEL VERY SATIATED!   Enjoy!

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Dear Tina and Gabby,

My 14-day-stay in Tokyo could not be any happier if not for (my colleagues) our memorable weekends and these Japanese gastronomic delights.  You know how I like sushi and eating it as authentic as it gets was just divine!

My very first bite of sushi costs Y890 (PhP 445).   Funny that I have to share it with our head nurse, because we both didn’t know if it’s too pricey or not, since it was our first night in Tokyo then.

Luckily after we transferred accomodation, our colleagues told us of  a department store called Remy that sells all other things but most importantly  bread, sushi, salad, bento boxes and other food items at 30 –50% off every 8:30PM (and those aren’t expired yet; they just want to dispose everything within the day to keep things on shelves fresh).  Buying discounted food is one of the best things I have experienced in Tokyo (everything else other than Remy’s are expensive in Japan including train fares, particularly when you convert prices into pesos!).

These are some of my Remy purchases that kept my stomach full every dinner!

Each sushi set at Remy costs around Y480 –900+.   So it’s really a good buy when it’s discounted at night; although one has to wait until it’s labelled as such.

There’s this microwavable- Tonkatsu-set that was originally priced at Y480; then after 8:30PM, I bought it only at half of it’s price.  I had to keep most of my food spending for dinner on a low key for  the rest of my budget per day was allotted for water (yes, we even had to buy 2-liter-bottles of drinking water),  food for breakfast and lunch, laundry and laundry essentials,  pricey train fares  and other expenses.  Remember, Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world!  And EVERY MOVE IN TOKYO COSTS  A  YEN! 

At some nights,  I bought salad and a cup of dessert -sweet and fruity; in addition to my main dishes.

I love that salad set; it’s a combination of potato topped with kani strips, mac and cheese topped with boiled egg, and some cold salad made of cucumber and other veggie strips. I like it so much that I bought it for 3 or 4 times when I was there!

I like how Japanese are so keen on their calorie-intake.  Most if not all purchases, contain calorie counts to guide those diet-conscious consumers (not me! LOL!).   Like this Fish and Tamago bento that costs Y498 had 675 kilo calories.

I also found this bacon-wrapped rice so easy and convenient to eat; a real-whole-meal-in-one!  Not to mention it’s few of the things in Tokyo that comes in affordable price…

Their iced tea doesn’t taste that sweet even if it’s flavored.   But their coffee is something else, sarap!

Here are proofs that I also cooked and cooked and cooked in my room to save, save and save…

Ugh, the agony of staying abroad on a budget!  We all had to buy our own frying pan and syanse , cooking oil, soy sauce, some dozen eggs, (canned goods like spam for my colleagues) and chicken nuggets from convenient stores and groceries.

Still from Remy’s,  I was able to cook some Aussie Beef slices that I bought for a cheaper price (compared to local price in Manila).

Those rice patties wrapped with nori were already tasteful at Y120 (PhP 60) each at regular price;  I just can’t eat them sans ulam.

On one of those nights, I had Gyoza, Y260 (PhP 130)  and nothing more;  then the next night I had pig-out again by buying another microwavable dinner from Remy (I really love that store in Gotanda!).

That set on the right of 4-piece-fried chicken and fries (Y580) were so huge that I had it for dinner and breakfast too!

My lunch with my colleagues were also remarkable.

Rememeber I showed you this Sukiyaki set on one of my first letters to you…

This Sukiyaki set that costs Y1000 (PhP 500) was a lunch treat from the 2 Japanese guys I met there.  It’s one of the best-tasting Sukiyaki that I’ve tried.  Yummy!

Here are the other lunch sets that I had from a buffet spread of one of those restaurants…

One afternoon, I had salad, miso soup, desserts and an assorted tempura plate all for Y950 (PhP475 ).  Then another lunch time, I had salad again, miso soup, desserts and a burger steak plate all for Y850 (PhP 425).

In Tokyo,  one of their famous and affordable 24-hour fastfood chains, more like of our Jollibee or McDo here is Yoshinoya.  I know we haven’t eaten in Yoshinoya here in Manila, but my first take on it in Tokyo wasn’t that bad.  For a Y500 coin (PhP 250), you can have a set meal with Japanese tea in less than 5 minutes; really convenient especially on nights when I was too lazy to shop or cook for dinner (read : it was always single-digit-celsius when I was there; was always a “bed-weather” before and after dinner!).

Is it not too obvious that Sukiyaki is one of my favorites ? LOL!

Remember I told you that our colleagues also treated us in aYakiniku lunch buffet near Ginza Street; the resto is called Don.K! (pronounced by Japanese as donki).  It’s like Yakimix that we have sampled in SM Mall of Asia.  The price per head was just similar with Yakimix;  Buffet at Don.K! per pax costs Y1000 for lunch and Y3000 for dinner.

 At   TOKYO DISNEYLAND 

and  TOKYO DISNEYSEA , my late lunch and dinner sets were simple (but quite expensive too at Y790 and Y1450 with lunch box)

My last lunch at Tokyo was with Doc B.P.S  when we were in  Akihabara.   It was good that a day before my flight back home, he introduced me to a common Japanese eatery that requires diners to choose from a menu display of  plastic food on the window and pay via vendo machine (due to lack of cashiers); get the stub and hand it in at the counter…

I found this dining system very efficient and wish we could have the same here in Manila.

Katsudon at Y455 (PhP 227.50)  for my last lunch in Tokyo…

You may drool and burp now, hehehe! 

I may have had the best tasting sushi, sukiyaki and bento boxes in Tokyo, but every dining experience was still less without the two of you, naks! 

These foods may be authentic Japanese but nothing beats home-cooked foods shared together on our very own table.

I love you, ‘ney and Gabby.

Here’s to more simple indulgences together!

  Tatay-doc

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To my Kind Readers,

There will be more of my Tokyo experience that I’ll share with you on my next posts .  Thanks for following this series.

-gelo