(Author's note: I have made the executive decision to write on Japan before heading back to Cambodia, mostly because it is fresh on my mind).
Due to the change in venues from a single location for the bulk of our training to various locations in Tokyo with a home base in Shinagawa, meals are definitely different this year for training - worthy, I think, of some individual posts.
Breakfast at our new location is at the same place almost every day - partially because it is conveniently located in the hotel lobby, partially because the price (800 Yen, or $5.10) really just cannot be beat.
Reliably - every morning - one gets salad, two kinds of croissants, a protein source, and a scoop of potato salad with a slice of fruit or vegetable. Also available are soup, coffee, yogurt (one per customer), hot tea, kale juice, a sort of orange juice, and a selection of smaller baked goods.
The greatest variety, interestingly, were in the protein sources and the potato salad. Protein sources could include a small chicken nugget, a small cooked egg, and/or a meat (ham, tuna salad, small hot dog).
The potato salad was also variable. It included "regular" potato salad, potato salad with corn, and potato salad with Japanese pumpkin (a sort of squash).
The smaller baked goods varied from day to day as well. They included a chocolate croissant, a curry bear claw (not as odd as it sounds), a strawberry croissant, and a sort of yellow slightly sweet muffin.
And, of course, all the coffee you can drink.
Did that food provide enough calories for your size and the physical work you were doing or did you lose weight?
ReplyDeleteERJ, I only have anecdotal evidence:
Delete1) The breakfasts were very filling; seldom if every did I truly feel hungry before lunch.
2) The one scale I had access to during the trip suggested I had gained about 3% of my body weight - although to be fair, it was at the end of the day after three meals.
3) The scale at home suggested the same immediately upon my arrival, although that equalized back to "normal" within a day.
4) Last night I saw an acquaintance I had not seen since November. His comment was "You look like you lost weight".
My assessment - my "feeling" - is that I probably did lose a bit of weight and perhaps add muscle. But I have limited data to support that.
Most interesting TB, makes me wonder about other meals during the rest of the day. Much of a change price-wise for meals since your last visit?
ReplyDeleteNyon12 - Rest assured your curiosity will be rewarded!
DeleteIn terms of pricing, this is the most favorable the dollar has been against the Yen in any my visits at 155 Yen to the Dollar. That said, past trips were around 130-140 Yen to the dollar, so maybe 10-12% more expensive. Certainly nothing like the U.S., where yesterday on a not terribly impressive lunch outing I spent $13.
Although I like the American breakfast fare of eggs, meat and some sort of carb, I do appreciate the variety I have had when overseas. I would think they probably view American breakfasts as someone limited in their lack of variety.
ReplyDeleteEd, in all my travels German breakfasts remain the most remarkable for their layout of cheese and meat.
DeleteI will say these breakfasts were very carb heavy - great for training, maybe not so great for daily practice. It was the one reliable supply of vegetables we got for the day though (cabbage).
Greetings. Never been to Japan but I thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese breakfast items available at the included breakfast at a Staybridge hotel in Michigan. The hotel had a lot of frequent Japanese customers due to a large Japanese owned company in town. The breakfast bar included steamed white rice, natto (you gotta try it at least once😁), and miso soup with bits of tofu in it. Of course there was all the usual American breakfast items that you see in the “free” hotel breakfasts.
ReplyDeleteAnon - I have never heard of such a thing; what a treat!
DeleteNatto falls into one of two camps: Either you like it or you hate it. I fall into the "like" category (and it is really good for you).
Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to comment!
Your travel meals are always of interest. Sounds like a good breakfast at a great price. It's interesting that salad as part of breakfast appears in different parts of the world, but we'd never think of salad for breakfast in the US. Unless maybe fruit salad. I agree with Ed, that American breakfasts probably have the least variety of all our meals.
ReplyDelete