In Japan, going to Costco is a little different than shopping at other places. In order for it to go smoothly, you have to shake off any sense of acting Japanese, and act like an American. First, get in your car and drive there. Forget about using public transportation – how could you get anything home?
Even though Costco opens at 10:00 am, we had noticed previously that it had been open before then – so this time we arrived at 9:00 am. After a few minutes they opened the store at 9:15 am. Strange, but it worked out for us. We filled up on the usual assortment of goodies – this time a little more wine, and maybe a little less meat.
The Costco here is not exactly the same as the ones in the USA – lots of local Japanese stuff, and occasionally they have imported stuff that we like. This time we were hoping to get a big bag of tortilla chips – last time they had some Kirkland organic tortilla chips that were really good. Unfortunately, no luck this time. The wine selection was great, however, so we scored there. The power of the strong yen seems to be having an effect – I bought a Malbec from Argentina for 560 yen a bottle. That’s almost the price of one beer in a restaurant.
So yesterday’s holiday was all about filling our stores and relaxing. We’ve got some guests the weekend after next, so the timing was good as well. Now it’s time to get back out there and finish off this strange week.
