Costco

I actually drove to Costco here. It took 50 minutes, and was a lovely drive on a brilliantly bright fall day. I went with Laura (pictured in yellow) and Jandi. Costco has parking on the roof (efficient use of space) and so the escalator-style moving ramps allow you to take your cart with you. Kinda fun.

I was able to buy Yoshida's teriyaki sauce (an American item). I also purchased quite a few Japanese type foods. Real sushi for cheap, pickled octopus (I warned Tim, but he was still a bit startled when he pulled out the cellophane wrapped tentacle-lousy arm in the refrigerator), Filipino style meat sauce, Japanese version of chicken nuggets (they use dark meat and panko type outside with some funky herbs), and Japanese eggs. I'm starting to like them. When we first got here, I couldn't eat them because of the fishy taste. They probably feed their chickens with seaweed or something. Ewww. But now, after all the fish we eat here, I don't taste it anymore!
Of course, even normal Costco foods have a local flavor to them, like this seafood pizza. If you double-click and look closer, it has shrimp, calamari and scallops. And it's not uncommon to have a bit of mayonaise drizzled on top of a pizza, either. Now, those are good eats to Tim, who loves the white stuff. Japanese mayonaise is a bit thinner and yellower.

I'm threatening to let my Costco membership go. It's rather far, and we have no storage for the huge supplies. I can't upload my pictures to them. I love doing that, and just picking them up later. They do have the 1 hour here, though. The dues are cheaper here.

I did find out that they deliver to your home. For $5 per large box, you can have your Costco purchases show up at your house the following day. That's good for those who arrive by train to go shopping there. Laura has done so in the past.

Okay, I'll end with my 'joke.' A friend who is Japanese and teaches English, makes her students pick American names. So, when we went to lunch, she said the American women should choose Japanese names. Until 25 years ago or so, most Japanese women's names ended with 'ko.' Chieko, Junko, Hamako, Masako, etc. We had to choose a name that ended with 'ko.' When it came my turn, I said, "Ka-su-to-ko." That is how they pronounce Costco in Japanese.