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 [1.07] Lake Biwa, Instant Lunch, Wonda Coffee Last updated 
07 Jan 1999 

Lake Biwa 07 Jan 1999
Today it was very windy and cold (it actually did snow a little late this evening) and the waves on lake Biwa were crashing onto the shore behind JCMU. I went outside and tried to protect my lens from the mist as I took this panorama of the lake. You can see mountains in the distance.

Instant Lunch: Miso Nikomi Udon 07 Jan 1999
Yesterday I went to Lawson Station (you'll see pictures of that later) across the street to buy food that would be easy to make during my hour lunch breaks. Here's what I picked out (I had no idea what it was, but it seemed as though one would only need to add hot water to make it). Here's a side view of the nifty styrofoam bowl that it comes in.

With the help of my handy dandy Japanese word processor on my laptop (and some help from my MTU Japanese instructor), I was able to look up the 2 white kanji symbols on the top of the bowl. As far as I understand it, here's what all the big white characters say (Japanese is read top to bottom and right to left when characters are written vertically):
mi so ni komi u do n
"miso" is bean paste, "nikomi" means "cook/boil completely", and "udon" means Japanese noodles. So, a translation would be "Japanese noodles with ingredients which have been cooked completely (to extract flavor and create soup)."
According to my MTU Japanese instructor, on the top of the bowl the three black symbols say "Nagoya", and to the right of them the phrase (in a dialect from Nagoya) "very delicious, you know!"

When I opened the container, I found all these packages inside. From left to right, the packages are: some sort of powder, some sort of brown goop, the Japanese noodles, "kayaku" (translated as "extra ingredients" -- the packet contained freeze dried things like onions and rice noodles), and a packet of spicy powder.
I boiled some water, guessed at the amount to pour in, mixed all the packets together and presto! Instant lunch. It tasted good, too!

Late Tasty Beverage 07 Jan 1999
Yes, when it's 8 PM and you need a little caffeine, look for none other than Wonda coffee...
In Japan, there are vending machines all over the place. Indoors, out in the middle of a parking lot, in alleys and on walking paths. Here are the two down the hall from my room. From what I gather, KIRIN and Asahi are big name brands (for beverages) in Japan.
I decided to try some Wonda (ooh-ah-n-dah) coffee (coffee is pronounced "koh-hee" in Japanese) because, heck, even Tiger Woods drinks it. Here's a picture of the can I chose. Yes, it's Wonda coffee with tasty aroma for refined adults. And it only costs 120 yen (about $1.05). But how does it taste? Pretty good. It's very similar to a Starbucks Frappuccino (the sweetened coffee in those little glass bottles).
Now I've relaxed and enjoyed Wonda coffee, I would undoubtedly say that I'm a refined adult! :)

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