Posted by Jess
5 January 2011
Today is the end of month 5 for us here in Tokyo. And although we just arrived back from almost a month in the US, this still feels like home (at least for now!). We really enjoyed seeing everyone over these past few weeks and spending time with our families for the holidays. And now we're back to life here in Japan with me going back to work today and Ella headed to school again tomorrow. She can't wait!
For month marker posts I usually write about some mundane task and how its different here in Japan. Since we had no food in the house when we arrived back - we had done a good job of cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer before heading to the U.S., we made a large grocery shopping trip yesterday. I thought maybe I could write a little bit about grocery shopping here.
We have a local grocery store chain called Peacock. Our local Peacock store has 5 floors. The basement and ground level have groceries, the 2nd level has some clothing and kitchen supplies, the 3rd and 4th level have home items, toiletries, pet supplies, a pharmacy, a dry cleaning desk and a tailor. The store is a little smaller than a Walgreens in size, so even with 5 floors and all these categories to cover you can tell that there aren't a lot of different options but the basics are all covered. There are some American brands here, especially when it comes to soda and candy, but just a few. All signs are in Japanese. This store does take credit cards even though not a lot of stores here do. The store only posts transactions to our card company about once every two weeks or so though!
There are also grocery stores that specialize in International foods. There are a few of these around the city. The closest one to us is called Kino Kuniya. I haven't been in here yet, but Jason has and would say its kind of like the Byerly's of grocery stores - a little bit upscale and fancy for us but definitely convenient.
Not too far away, although tricky to get there by train, is National Azabu grocery store. This is an international grocery store that we do a lot of our shopping at. It doesn't have much in the way of home items, just a few cleaning products really, but has a good selection of food. Again, its not a big store by any means but seems to have most of what we're looking for. The great thing here is that all the shelf labels are in English so even if its a Japanese packaged product, like milk or butter, you can still know what it is you are buying based on the label on the shelf.
This grocery store offers free delivery if you spend $100 or so, which is great for us. It's not hard to spend $100. We bought a package of cheese slices this past week that was 20 slices for $20 or so. It doesn't take too long to get to $100 with Tokyo prices. International items aren't cheap either since you're paying for the convenience. Some other samples of prices: a box of Mac and Cheese was on sale this week for about $4 and a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix is about $10. The groceries get packed into bags with ice packs or dry ice and then are delivered to you that day based on your neighborhood. Our place on the route is between 4pm and 6pm but its almost always 6pm right when they deliver. With the train ride or taxi ride home it would be impossible to get as much as we do from there so its great that they have free delivery!
Upstairs from the grocery store is also a gift shop where they have party supplies, gift wrap, some toys and cards, and an English book section for adults and kids. There's a few odds and ends up there too like dish washing trays and bathroom organizers too, but not a lot of that. Its mostly things that parents need to throw birthday parties!
And so ends month 5 in Japan. We're excited for the New Year and all it have to offer us here. We're already working on some fun outings and day trips...but those are for future blog posts.
Kanpai!
Jess
5 January 2011
Today is the end of month 5 for us here in Tokyo. And although we just arrived back from almost a month in the US, this still feels like home (at least for now!). We really enjoyed seeing everyone over these past few weeks and spending time with our families for the holidays. And now we're back to life here in Japan with me going back to work today and Ella headed to school again tomorrow. She can't wait!
For month marker posts I usually write about some mundane task and how its different here in Japan. Since we had no food in the house when we arrived back - we had done a good job of cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer before heading to the U.S., we made a large grocery shopping trip yesterday. I thought maybe I could write a little bit about grocery shopping here.
We have a local grocery store chain called Peacock. Our local Peacock store has 5 floors. The basement and ground level have groceries, the 2nd level has some clothing and kitchen supplies, the 3rd and 4th level have home items, toiletries, pet supplies, a pharmacy, a dry cleaning desk and a tailor. The store is a little smaller than a Walgreens in size, so even with 5 floors and all these categories to cover you can tell that there aren't a lot of different options but the basics are all covered. There are some American brands here, especially when it comes to soda and candy, but just a few. All signs are in Japanese. This store does take credit cards even though not a lot of stores here do. The store only posts transactions to our card company about once every two weeks or so though!
There are also grocery stores that specialize in International foods. There are a few of these around the city. The closest one to us is called Kino Kuniya. I haven't been in here yet, but Jason has and would say its kind of like the Byerly's of grocery stores - a little bit upscale and fancy for us but definitely convenient.
Not too far away, although tricky to get there by train, is National Azabu grocery store. This is an international grocery store that we do a lot of our shopping at. It doesn't have much in the way of home items, just a few cleaning products really, but has a good selection of food. Again, its not a big store by any means but seems to have most of what we're looking for. The great thing here is that all the shelf labels are in English so even if its a Japanese packaged product, like milk or butter, you can still know what it is you are buying based on the label on the shelf.
This grocery store offers free delivery if you spend $100 or so, which is great for us. It's not hard to spend $100. We bought a package of cheese slices this past week that was 20 slices for $20 or so. It doesn't take too long to get to $100 with Tokyo prices. International items aren't cheap either since you're paying for the convenience. Some other samples of prices: a box of Mac and Cheese was on sale this week for about $4 and a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix is about $10. The groceries get packed into bags with ice packs or dry ice and then are delivered to you that day based on your neighborhood. Our place on the route is between 4pm and 6pm but its almost always 6pm right when they deliver. With the train ride or taxi ride home it would be impossible to get as much as we do from there so its great that they have free delivery!
Upstairs from the grocery store is also a gift shop where they have party supplies, gift wrap, some toys and cards, and an English book section for adults and kids. There's a few odds and ends up there too like dish washing trays and bathroom organizers too, but not a lot of that. Its mostly things that parents need to throw birthday parties!
And so ends month 5 in Japan. We're excited for the New Year and all it have to offer us here. We're already working on some fun outings and day trips...but those are for future blog posts.
Kanpai!
Jess
4:33 AM |
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