More Food

Today was supposed to be the sports festival at the school. But it rained, so it's rescheduled for tomorrow. So, I went to Bell Mall in Utsunomiya. I need to get new clothes. Between not eating as much as I used to, and walking more, I've lost inches and my clothes are looser. I don't know (or care) if I've lost weight since I don't have a scale.

There is a restaurant chain called Freshness Burger and there is one in the mall. There's also one by the Tobu station. Like many restaurants in Japan, this one helpfully had the menu posted outside. I saw something I just had to have -- a Spam burger! Yes! A slice of spam, lettuce, tomato and a fried egg on a bun. My arteries hardened in delight just looking at the thing. And it was as good as you'd think it would be! It reminded me of the Spam sandwiches my dad used to make for me.

A lime soda went with it nicely. It was sufficiently unsweetened that a little syrup pack was brought with it. It's a clear syrup, and is about the size of a creamer that would come with coffee. It seems to be the way that sweeteners are offered in restaurants here.

On the table was the best "No Smoking" sign I've seen in a while. I'm so used to the smoking bans in various Wisconsin cities that I'm taken aback when I go to a restaurant and am asked if I want smoking or non. Although not as smoke-free as the US, the trend here is toward more smoke-free areas, which for me is just fine.