Support your local food truck.

Food trucks are one of my favorite things about big cities. Any time I went to Otakon in Baltimore and DC, I was always interested in the food trucks I saw (in particular the hot dog carts). A couple years ago, Keikyū demolished a damaged arcade and karaoke place and turned it into a lot for food trucks called COCOON. Everything was great for the first several months.

Holiday Break 2022.

Just like last year, I have seventeen days off for the winter break this year. (I’d actually forgotten I’d had that many in 2021.) Here’s a brief rundown of what I did:

シタマチパンダ祭り 2022.

Last year, I went to the Shitamachi Panda Festival in Okachimachi. This year, I nearly forgot about it.

A taste of Nagoya.

A couple weeks ago, I spotted a sign on the notice board of my local Itō Yōkadō with the logo of famous Nagoya izakaya chain 世界の山ちゃん (Sekai no Yama-Chan). Closer inspection showed they’d have a food truck out front the following Wednesday selling their famous 手羽先 (tebasaki, or Japanese chicken wings). There was no way I was gonna miss that.

Odds & Ends (part 49).

I’ve been back for five weeks. (Feels like longer.) Anyway…

Tokyo Food Trucks.

I haven’t been to many big cities in my life, but in my experience, big cities are home to a variety of food trucks. Imagine my surprise, then, when it finally dawned on me that Tokyo seems to have very few of them.

Odds & Ends (part 46).

The weather’s finally cooled off enough I need a jacket to go out, and have had to turn on the heat a couple times. Also…

シタマチパンダ祭り (Epilogue).

Tomorrow is the last day of the Panda Festival, so I went back today. I got two different sausages and said goodbye to the people I had met that worked there. Just before I left, the chatty guy who ran the 静岡 food truck gave me a container of yakisoba for free. It pays to speak the language here.

シタマチパンダ祭り。

Pandas everywhere.

Last week, I went to 御徒町 to have my favorite ramen. As I was walking down to the restaurant, I spotted something along the way called “Shitamachi Panda Festival.” On the way back after eating, my curiosity got the better of me and I stopped in. It was small, but had plenty to offer.