natasha nakamura's diary

Lunch for 100 yen--less than $1--is the easiest thing in the world.

Any convenience store will have shelves of plastic bowls of dry noodles and spices for that price. All that's required is boiling water to fill the bowl and a pair of chopsticks. And the store will probably will be able to provide you with both.

This was my lunch today, eaten standing just outside the store, together with a trio of construction workers. I could have taken my plastic bowl of noodles home, where I could have fiddled with it, perhaps adding a hard-boiled egg, perhaps a piece of tempura or anyway something picked up for the purpose in the food basement of a department store.

Now I'll just have to compare the bowls of noodles offered by the dozens of makers, to find the best. More on this later.