onigiri

my meals throughout the day really seem to reflect the east/west culture of tokyo. started off with starbucks iced coffee and sesame bagel (with mango cream cheese) for breakfast. for lunch, we were in a bit of a rush so we grabbed onigiri, rice balls (see pix) with a side dish (egg, meatball and fried chicken). for more on onigiri, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_balls. in this case, out of a big selection of onigiri, i got the tempura one and an "herb" one which simply meant little white anchovies, seaweed and sesames mixed in with the rice - really tasty! milano mint cookies throughout the day, then a quick grab at mcdonald's for dinner (shrimp burger or tandori pita?). a second dinner at a hawaiian burger joint, but had an avocado BLT. i must say, it was the best ABLT i've ever had! the bacon was of perfect thickness and crispiness, snuggled by leafy romain lettuce, juicy slice of tomato and a thick slice of onion, semi grilled. oh and how i've missed you avocado! why a second dinner? i don't mean to live a hobbit's life, but sometimes, a girl can really work up an appetite!

by the way, did you know that you can't eat on the street in tokyo??? people don't walk and eat out on the street. it's a big cultural no-no. this pained me a great deal. you also can't eat in the cab or any other public transportation for that matter (except for the bullet train perhaps?). i find this not only disturbing and unproductive, but highly inconvenient. i like being able to eat on my way to places, for example, drinking coffee while eating a muffin coming into work, or eating a street dog and drinking a soda running errands at lunch time (no street vendors on the street so you can forget the street dog). when you stop and look around and see that no one eats or drinks while walking on the street, it feels a bit like the twilight zone. in that respect, new york fits me like a glove. i can eat and drink anywhere. wait, i take that back, in tokyo, you CAN eat at the park, but it seems that there are unspoken rules about what public areas people can eat. i think perhaps the point is that eating is a ritual, it is meant to be relished in a relaxed manner. proper sitting down is required somehow. but who's got the time??? eating on the run may be very american thing. oh the cultural gaps... you don't realize how deeply "american" you are until you are faced with, well, just how "unamerican" other people are! it's not good, it's not bad... it's just different. i will learn to chew gum instead in tokyo and remember to toss it before i head back to singapore!