Not all but some Seven Eleven have Koshu Wines. Different grape(Koshu) + different climate = different taste & different scent. As a Konbini alcohol beverage, it is expensive, but it's still only 1,780 Yen, reasonable enough to give it a try if you are interested in tasting local alcohol beverages when travelling. About Koshu : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koshu_(grape) EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KOSHU FROM JAPAN https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2019/09/everything-you-need-to-know-about-koshu-from-japan/ How did Japan become the world’s latest serious wine frontier? https://www.scmp.com/magazines/styl...w-did-japan-become-worlds-latest-serious-wine
For the 9% ones sure, but the 4% Suntory highballs are the same price which is weird. None of their other booze seems expensive, single cans of Korean beers are $2.50, same price per single as each one costs in a six pack ($15).
"Lady finger" bananas in Australia for the win . In many countries the standard Australian "cavendish" is only eaten when cooked (desserts, cakes, pancakes etc.). Many years ago my mother in law (on her first trip to Australia) could not believe we Australians gave our kids uncooked "cavendish" bananas to eat. Can't remember if she said they had too much starch and had to be cooked so kids didn't get stomach pain? Was something along those lines. Will have to ask Mrs Zimboo tonight to refresh my memory.
I used to get almost instant stomach pain eating raw Bananas, but it's something that's got less noticeable as I've gotten older.
Early morning Konbini visit in Yamagata city. When it's cold, I feel like buying hot sweet milk tea. This is one of them. I like these ones too(KIRINS's hot milk tea series)
I like this Seven Eleven's retort pouch curry( = butter chicken curry). It's retort pouch, so you don't need to keep it in a fridge. If your room has a microwave, you can heat it. It's 200 Yen(there are cheaper ones at Seven Eleven, but I prefer this retort pouch curry). 50 - 60 secs in a microwave. Konbini has plastic spoon and if you buy foods like this, they give you a plastic spoon for free, so if the worker doesn't give you a spoon, just tell them "Plastic spoon?". Plastic spoon is plastic spoon in Japanese too, unless your English pronunciation is "too good", the worker will understand you Seven Eleven has this kind of retort pouch rice too. It's also a retort pouch, so you don't need to keep it in a fridge. 2 mins in a microwave to heat it. You don't need a plate. You can use the retort pouch rice as a plate like the picture below. The rice is 150 Yen. The retort pouch curry is 200 Yen, so the curry rice is 350 Yen. It can be a good "second dinner" or breakfast if your hotel room has a microwave.
Thanks for explaining! I assumed the curry had rice included, so it’s good to know you have to buy the rice separately. curry
Actually, all Konbinis have curry rice "bento" and this is one of Seven Eleven's curry rice bento. But I think retort pouch ones are better for two reasons. Reason 1 : Bento ones are cooked at Konbini bento factories about 6 hours - 18 hours before you eat. Retort pouch can keep the condition = quality better than bento ones. Reason 2 : Bento ones are more expensive. For example, the bento one in the image below is 500 Yen. The retort Pouch One is only 350 Yen(Curry + Rice) and the quantity is bigger too, so I'd say retort pouch one is half-priced compared to the bento one. More delicious + more economical = I choose retort pouch ones. This is not the Seven Eleven's retort pouch curry but it's also a retort pouch curry. The guy is boiling the retort pouch curry but you can heat the Seven Eleven's retort pouch I wrote above in a microwave. If your accommodation have a microwave, you can very easily heat and prepare the curry rice. Edit : About Bento https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento
All Konbinis have Calpis, and most of them are already diluted bottled ones (You don't need to dilute them). I prefer non diluted ones = You need to dilute it with water by yourself = you can change the thickness of the taste. Normal dilution ratio (the company say) is Calpis : Water = 1 : 5, but I prefer 1 : 3, or 1 : 4. I mean, I make it thicker. It's one of my favorite after bath / onsen drinks. It's economical too. Already diluted 500ml bottled one is about 130 Yen. The non diluted one (470ml) is about 260 Yen(IIRC), but if you dilute it with water (1 : 5 ratio), it becomes more than 2000ml, so it's actually a lot more economical. The image below is non diluted one(You need to dilute it with water) This is how to dilute Calpis with water. About Calpis : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpis TV ad of Calpis(diluted one, though)
Seven Eleven newly made a microwave ramen jointly with Ippudo and started selling it last month. There are a lot of different kinds of ramen broth, and it seems Tonkotsu (pork bone) broth is the most popular among foreigners, and Ippudo is famous for Tonkotsu ramen (Ippudo is a ramen restaurant chain). I tried it last weekend. It's unique in that it's a microwave ramen, not cup ramen. It's yummy and well made, but it's difficult if I should recommend or not because of the price. It's 500 Yen and cup ramen is a lot more reasonable. This is the microwave Ippudo ramen (500 Yen) This is Ippudo's cup ramen (278 Yen) About Ippudo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippudo IPPUDO in Sydney Edit: It looks like I've started hijacking this thread?. Sorry, but I visit Konbinis 3 or 4 times per day on average and it means I visit Konbinis more than 1000 times per year, so Konbini often gives me ideas about what to post
We upgraded from Konbini to Super and have 2 person party. And some Nagano Wakamatsu sake, Reiwa first brew + Asahi Japan Special. 20 %
Supermarket is a kind of "big Konbini", so I guess we can post supermakert things too here. And actually, supermarket is more economical. More Konbinient ( = convenient) means more expensive. For example, if you buy a 500ml bottled green tea at a vending machine, it's 160 Yen, at Konbini = 120 - 130 Yen, at supermarket = 90 - 100 Yen
Yes I was pleasantly surprised to find bento a couple of 100 yen cheaper in a supermarket compared to the conbini, and a wider variety as well
What makes supermarket bento better is, they often discount 20% - 70% for their bento between 7pm and its closing time. I mean, Konbini never discount, it's their rule. Most supermarkets close at 10pm or 11pm and they start discounting 10 - 20% at 7pm, 20 - 30% at 8pm, 30% - 50% at 9pm and 50% - 70% between 9pm - 11pm. If they can't sell out bento, they need to dispose of the unsold bento, so they give us big discount. Konbini never discount for their bento. Look at the image below, the original price was 500 Yen, but it became 250 Yen. I often visit a supermarket nearby at 9pm for discounted bento. I often buy discounted sushi bento, etc to eat next morning (as breakfast)
What are the best pre-canned coffees found in Konbinis / vending machines these days? For memory I used to get one of the BOSS variety. I'm simply hoping for strong coffee with little to no sweetness. So many are way too sweet
I drink quite a lot amount of water, green tea, oolong tea, coffee, etc(all sugar free) everyday, and small hot ones that can be seen in vending machines are not enough(the quantity is too small). Konbini has hot bottled drinks next to the casher.
Valentines's Day in Japan = Women giving men chocolates. It used to be the day when women confess love to men, but nowadays, women give chocolates to their male friends and colleagues too. Konbini(not all, though) sell special chocolates for Valentines's Day. If you buy one and give the male owner of your lodge, your lodge owner will feel very happy and smile and you smile too(smile / happy circulation happens). In early February, we'll see a lot of these kinds of tv commercials in Japan(Valentine's Day's special edition). The first one is Kit Kat. And on February 15th, those chocolates for Valentine's Day are discounted About Valentines's Day in Japan : https://www.hisgo.com/us/destination-japan/blog/valentines_day_in_japan.html
So I had one of these little beauty’s on the hill one day and it was genius. A jelly carb drink that got me through to lunch with ease. So, because I’m a huge running tragic, I bought back about 8 of them in my luggage. Tried them out again in my long runs and they have been awesome. Next challenge was seeing if I could get them sent to Australia somehow and managed to find Dokodemo which would do it, but at a hefty shipping fee. Oh well, they were genius so I’ve bought 5 boxes and will see how the first purchase goes. If you haven’t had a go, I think you can find them in Konbini, but definitely most supermarkets.
I also love Morinaga's "in jelly" series. I like the taste and texture but what more important is, I can eat it when I have no appetite. So I keep them at home and I eat(or I should say "drink") it when I'm unwell. These are the basic five ones and there are some others as well(Edit : I eat / drink it when I overslept too = quick breakfast to avoid missing a train)
Among a lot of different fruit nut granola products, I like this one. Compared to the other ones, the quantity of almond is a lot bigger. アーモンド = almond. たっぷり = plenty of. There are many similar ones, so just check アーモンド is written there if you also like almond. It's one of my major breakfast. Unless you are looking for low fat milk for your health, you should not choose "低脂肪" one. 低 = low, 脂肪 = fat. So it means low fat. Low fat milk is not as yummy as normal milk (in my opinion). Choosing Meiji's おいしい牛乳 might be better (おいしい = yummy / tasty, 牛 = cow, 乳 = milk).
"Functional probiotic yogurts" are very popular in Japan and there are numerous probiotic yogurt products which claim different functions. One of them is Meiji R-1. In Japan, winter is the flu season, and in every winter, Meiji advertise "Boost immunity with Meiji R-1 Yogurt". A lot of people who are diagnosed with the new Coronavirus are old people with health issue, and it means people with lower immune system are catching the new virus. So, it might be the time to buy R-1 Probiotic Yogurt to Boost Immunity with Meiji R-1 Yogurt https://slism.com/diet/probiotic-yogurt-boost-immunity.html This picture was filmed at a supermarket. Not as many, but Konbinis also have major functional probiotic yogurt products.
I'm a big fan of these too, they're great to stuff into the ski jacket. My Japanese friend (pharmacist) from Saitama recommended one that has a bit more stuff in it though, more colourful packaging, and it costs a bit extra.
I did a big shop at a Lawsons awhile back and got given some scratchy tickets, the sum total of those was the that I was gifted this bottle. A garbled google translate suggests it’s a vitamin drink is that right? Haven’t really come across these in a Oz.
There's a quite a wide selection of these in a lot of Konbinis (usually close to the jelly drink pouches), the obvious ones were the Vitamin drinks but I'm sure there are some oddballs thrown in there too.
It’s probably a different thread but I’m very sus on the science supporting the claims for these products.
More colorful? The gold colored ones are "super" series = they contain more Vitamin / Protein / Minerals / Energy, etc than normal series. Not sure if they are what you wrote, though. Morinaga's ones are by far the most widely available (=well sold), but there are some other companies that are selling similar products in Japan, so one of them might be what you meant. By the way, buying in bulk on amazon (or other online shops) makes them a lot cheaper. If I buy something at Konbini and I really like it, I often buy a box of it online. For example, I wrote about retort pouch rice above in this thread. If I only buy one at a Konbini, it can cost 150 Yen but it can be 90 Yen if I buy in bulk online. I know buying in bulk is not for tourists, though. Ah, Blowfin-san @blowfin keeps it in your ski jacket?. I wonder if it gets frozen on a ski slope. As I wrote earlier in this thread, I use this to prevent foods from getting frozen
I think it was this one actually: https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/drug-pony/item/h-223/?l-id=rgm_item_en_recommend_widget No they haven't frozen up in my ski jacket, yet.
If you are a health conscious person, choose "Tokuho" drinks and foods at Konbini. The Japanese government (more exactly, Consumer Affairs Agency) created system called Tokuho which informs customers of each items specific health effects. If you see this logo, it's Tokuho one. Only when the manufacturers can show enough scientific supports, Consumer Affairs Agency allow them to use the logo mark(Tokuho mark) on the products. My weight is very changeable, so when I feel I'm getting a bit chubby, I make it a rule to choose Tokuho teas that claim they can help us reduce weight. It doesn't mean I rely on Tokuho products. It's good to dispel my lazy mindset. I mean, Tokuho drinks / foods are about 20% more expensive than non Tokuho ones, so I think this way "Now that I pay extra, I must lose 6 kg in 3 months!". So it's a kind of motivator for me. About Tokuho : https://guidable.co/shopping-service/the-healthy-tokuho-drinks/ This is one of Tokuho teas which I buy when I'm trying to lose weight. It's Suntory's Black oolong tea. Kuro means Black. Health benefits of oolong tea And Tokuho green teas. There are many Tokuho green teas at Konbini, so just pick one. If not Tokuho ones, green tea is basically very good for our health and beauty(of course, sugar free one. 99.9% green teas and oolong teas sold in Japan are sugar free, so you don't need to worry, though). Edit : Tokuho, Tohoku, confusing
This is another Seven Eleven's "Microwave Ramen". This "Demon Ramen" is the spiciest Ramen that I've ever bought at Konbini. It's very spicy but delicious too. In winter, I sometimes feel like eating something very spicy, so I like the Demon Ramen (in winter). Microwave Ramen is more delicious and more expensive than non microwave one(and you need to eat Microwave ones within a day while you can keep the normal instant Ramen for a few years). 486 Yen. 5 mins 40 secs in a microwave (if it's 500W microwave).
I found this heat pads for feet at some Konbinis (might not be exactly the same products but similar ones). I only use normal heat pads for my low back, though. It keeps you warm for 8 hours.
Lukewarm sake in a glass and dropping this ice cream balls in the glass is my favorite This guy is doing it with milk, not with sake.
I’m not a big ice cream eater, tonight’s is the first time in years. But I’ll keep your recommendation in mind for next time I let loose.
The product = アイスの実 (アイス = ice, 実 = fruit) goes very well with alcohol beverages. Super strong Chuhai (12%, so it's higher alc - vol ratio than Strong Zero) + アイスの実. I drop the ice cream balls little by little unlike the guy in the video below because I don't want them to melt completely before I finish drinking it. The ice cream ball = アイスの実 itself is also very yummy, so I don't want to ruin it by letting it completely melt. Strong Zero with アイスの実
