Skinny Japanese, Krispy Kreme & Mickey D's

When we arrived we had heard and read all about Japanese cuisine. We had heard how small they are and how large we will seem.

Still...

We were honestly, totally shocked to see how amazingly thin the people in Japan are. 

I am not kidding or even exaggerating. 

It took us 5 WEEKS to see a local who was even the slightest bit obese. 

Our discussions as to why and how the Japanese stay so thin. We talk about it often.

We can tell you several things:

1. The Japanese eat rice constantly. Constantly. For three meals a day. Almost every day. That alone would make people in the US cringe. All that carb/ starch three times a day? Yikes! When they are not eating rice, they are eating ramen noodles. What? How can they stay thin with all that? 

2. The Japanese MOVE constantly. They walk all the time. You see elderly men and woman riding their bikes all over town. The do squats at every meal to get up and down to the small table on the floor where the traditional Japanese dine. How many of us can do squats like that at 20 years old? 40? 80?

3. The locals go have tiny, and I do mean tiny, homes. Most of the them shop every day for the meals they will eat that day. Can you imagine that? You get fresh veggies and fruits every single meal! 

4. Fish is their friend and -by far- their most common meat. (Truly, the smell of fish is not my friend.) Fish is everywhere here and wonderfully fresh. You can order fish at almost every restaurant. How much fish do you eat?

5. Snacks are not an everyday thing. Once you get into higher level schooling, mainly high school, snacks are not looked on kindly. They love sweets and will take them to homes when they visit. It is not that they don't eat sweets or snacks all together. They do. But they are for special occasions and family gatherings, not for everyday. 

I am in awe as I look around at the size and shape of their people. 

Now, I interrupted my normal post to tell you that little bit of info. It has not affected my eating though. 

What can I say, you can take the girl out of Texas but don't you dare take her snacks away!

Rencently, we took our first visitors to Mickey D's. They love to travel and have been to Mc Donald's all over the globe. How would Japan's "Mak-ud-on-ar-udo" compare?

Well, first we had to pay for parking. Big time. It's about $2 for 30 minutes. We were in two cars so this could add up pretty quickly. We took the tickets inside McD's to ask how the system worked. We were so confused by the whole thing that the worker at McDonald's validated our parking. She then came and 'shooed' us out so we didn't have to pay for another 30 minutes. Or maybe she wanted us to leave.

The menu, at first glance, looks like the Mickey's back home. Then, you look again.  You think you might have to resort to just pointing at pictures. 

Then, the kind Japanese decide to take pity on our American selves. They hand us this version. Oh, thank you or "Arygato". We order our "sets" which is like a combo meal. It costs about the same, but the sizes are smaller. 

There are definite differences, like a pork don sandwich with radish cut like lettuce. That's a new one for me. Or the itty bitty little cokes that do not have free refills. Oh, wait. Maybe THAT is why they are so skinny.  The 'large' is about 10 ounces. 

There are intersting sauces as well: Butter Soy, Tomato & Herb, Curry, plus Basil & Cheese. You can get ketchup if you ask, but they only give you one per person. Imagine that. Like we would actually use the serving size suggested. Insert scuff here.

Everywhere you eat in Japan you get a cold cleaning wipe, individually wrapped, so you can clean your hands before you eat. You even get the wipe at McDonald's.  We forgot to pick ours up but I didn't notice until we were leaving. I hope our dirty hands didn't offend anyone. If so, I hope they now I we are from New Jersey. (Ha. Ha.)

The kiddie meal is still called the 'Happy Meal'. It comes with a choice of fries or corn. Al-righty then. Corn Kernels in the Happy Meal. Brilliant, skinny people. 

The Happy Meals have the cutest little pancakes available all day long. With your pancakes -and corn- you get two little tubes of 'icing' for your pancakes. One is a melted chocolate and the other one is strawberry yogurt. I tried to get a picture of the syrup and melted butter condiment combo. It didn't turn out. The condiment container has two sides. When you crack it open the melted butter and syrup combine to go on together. It is pretty ingenious. 

 The food taste the same, basically. The Quarter Pounder tastes much lighter. I am sure it is because they don't use the same 

meat. I really like it. The fries are a little taste of home, though not as salty as they are in the States. There are also some very unique burgers like the Shrimp Fillet-O, which is like a chicken fillet but inside the breading is little shrimp. It is served on a seeded bun with thousand island dressing. 


Drink wise they serve the typical coke array, plus gingerale, orange juice, milk, tea and "Qoo" which is the best apple juice you will ever have. 

We enjoyed McDonald's in Japan. The strangest thing, or the most unlike the US McDonalds is how you have to get rid of the trash. You have to pour out your "wasted" drink in a drain. Then you recycle your lid and straw. Finally, you throw your paper cup, fries container and paper wrappers in the trash can. 

A few days after we enjoyed McDonald's the kids and I were taking a side trip to a "mall" when we noticed a familiar sign. 

I thought I was dreaming. Seriously, did I get any sleep last night because I cannot be seeing clearly. 

Wait, I am seeing clearly. 

 I spy a Krispy Kreme! WhooHoo! 

We can barely contain our excitement!

They have Krispy Kreme in Japan?

Well, sign us up for a few of those masterpieces please.
 
 It is the season for all things World Cup, so KK is in on that theme. 

I let each child pick one to try at the store and then we took home a few to eat later. I mean, wink wink,  we took a few home for Dad, and us... of course.

G tried the World Cup selection of Japan: a green tea doughnut. She shared with everyone a small bite and enjoyed the rest herself. We all really liked it. Green tea as a flavor is really popular here, but it has to be subtle to taste good to us. This donut was both subtle and sweet. A great choice. (I got to the camera out a tad late and those silly kids had already started eating their doughnuts. Patience is not our strongest trait.)

C wanted to try the Italian World Cup doughnut. I guess he loves his heritage. Here is what was let after his first gulp. It was an Italian creme. It was quite yummy. He let me have a small sliver before he engulfed it. The other kids weren't interested in trying it. Their loss.

Baby C only wanted a glazed one. She was not in an adventurous mood. Oh well. She was happy.

A and I decided that we would share a doughnut since ours was a little too much for one person. It was unlike any doughnut we had ever seen before. 

It was on the ad when we came in. I know, I know. I can hear my husband's voice saying, "My wife is an advertiser's dream." He is shaking his head and waving his finger trying to discourage me. Alas, I give in.

 I purchase... drum roll please...

This amazing Japanese creation called the "Kool Kreme". It is a hot glazed doughnut with vanilla ice cream, caramel syrup and caramel PoPcOrN. It was so strange I just had to try it! Ours looked like this:

It was melting fast! I had to put the camera down quickly because A was diving in trying to eat as much as he could before I attacked the monster of calories.

The unique creation was pretty good. The doughnut, ice cream and caramel was divine. The popcorn was slightly weird and yet, somehow, good. I was in a bit of a sugar coma afterwards. But, it was worth it.

Oh, no. Didn't I start off this post with how healthy the average Japanese person is?

Well, it's a good thing I am not Japanese. 

I may feel guilty for loving my snacks. God Bless America, and her love of snacks. 

Also, please guide me to the nearest treadmill. 

I am going to need that puppy for the next few hours days.

Try new Things & Share Your Spoon,

~ Aggie Amy