On my way out of the south exit of the park, I stopped to enjoy some apple juice from a vending machine. Friends/family/strangers on the internet: we need to talk about Japanese vending machines. They are ubiquitous, and that is not an exaggeration: on every street corner, outside most businesses, in public parks like this one, you will find these amazing machines. I would love to see the behind-the-scenes logistics of keeping these operating and fully stocked.

If you’ll notice in the photo, below each item is a blue or red sticker with the price: blue is for cold drinks, red is for hot. I never tried a hot drink, because I’m just not all that in to hot drinks, but I can see that being nice on a cold day. I was also amazed that the prices were so reasonable. No matter where I went, no matter how heavily trafficked or geared toward travelers it was, the drinks were the same low price. I didn’t even bother to carry around a heavy water bottle, because I was never more than a couple steps from a cold drink. (The environment will survive this one time, I promise.)

They have this milk soda in Japan that sounds awful but that I loved loved loved. Mitsuya makes a version of the original and very popular cider simply called Milk Cider, but my hands down favorite was a peach milk soda from Skal. I drank so much of that stuff, but can’t find it anywhere on the internet (I can find the original and mango, but no peach.) I know it sounds gross but I swear it’s delicious. Think of a cross between American cream soda, and the deliciousness that is soda mixed with a bit of melted ice cream in a float. But half that sweet and way more refreshing. (Strings ramen shop here in Chicago offers a melon cream soda imported from Japan that is not exactly what I had, but is a close replica. Mmmmmmm.)

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Tokyo

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