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Let me remember how groceries were priced in Japan. Now I’m shopping groceries in Australia, I find some things can be even more expensive than purchased in Japan. For example, I felt the salad bag is too expensive here. 1 bag is about 500yen? Well, maybe the bag is 5 times bigger than the equivalent product in Japan. That’s possible…:p

One thing for sure is the prices certainly went up in general, compared with the time I was travelling around this country during 1999-2000. It’s not too much to say that the prices are almost the same or even expensive than those in Japan. Time has changed…

The following pictures were taken randomly in the local supermarkets near my apartment in Japan.

Bagel…1 bagel costs 119yen (tax included). I really hate that bagels are expensive in Japan. I know I can buy them at COSTCO, but my life is not compatible with it.

Natto…1 natto (with 3 packages) costs 88yen. It’s pretty cheap!

Tea…TWININGS Tea (20 tea bags) costs 399yen. I found the tea bags sold in Australia are slightly bigger than ours in Japan. Ours is designed for 160ml of water or something (not sure) but here it is designed for 220ml of water or something. I guess 1 cup is bigger here.

Rice…1880yen (5kg) and 3580yen (10kg). In Australia, I eat SUN RICE that is about 500yen for 2kg. Unexpectedly I don’t really miss Japanese rise so much. It was good to know that it doesn’t have to be Japanese rice, as long as it’s a tasty rice.

Japanese styled curry roux…178yen. It was surprising that I found Japanese curry roux at a general supermarket (Woolworth or Coles) in Australia!

Cabbage…350yen (whole) and 178yen (half). Sometimes quarter size is also available when the supermarket targets single or small family customers.

Sashimi…380yen (1 package), 680yen (2 packages) and 1000yen (3 packages). I like that we can get Sashimi very easily like this in Japan.

Green peppers…158yen for 1 package (normally contains 5-6 green peppers). I hate this. Why don’t they sell it by the kilo? I don’t need 5 or 6 at a time always.

Shimeji mushrooms…98yen for 1 package

Apple…198yen for 1 apple, not 1 kilo! You can see how fruits are expensive in Japan.

Banana…198yen for a bag of banana. Do we need a bag first of all? They could reduce the price without the bag or wrap, and that’s also eco friendly I guess…

Strawberries…598yen for 1 package (about 12 to 15 strawberries)

Snack-1…a bag of potato chips for 99yen

Snack-2…Pocky (9 small bags) for 238yen

Cup noodles…about 100-130yen per cup

Did I start missing Japanese food? No, not really. I noticed I will be OK as long as I can eat rice. I mostly eat either sandwich or pasta when I don’t eat rice with curry or fried rice or whatever. What did you think when you shopped at a grocery store in Japan? Did you feel some products were way too expensive or very reasonable?

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2 weeks have passed since I left Japan. Over here in Australia I am leading a very simple and healthy life. Due to the characteristics of my work here, I wake up before sunrise (5am) and go to bed before 10pm. Am I bored? No, it may sound boring but on the contrary I’m busy and I definitely need holidays free from work before I return to Japan.

Somehow it took me a long time to be able to write a post to TKE. (The last 4 posts were written beforehand to be scheduled for release automatically. So this is the very first post that I write in Australia.) I don’t even know how to explain this feeling, but let me try. Because the life over here is so much different from the one I had in Tokyo, I am not feeling that I am the same person who was in Japan. Yes, I miss my little Pi-chan and I talk with my hubby over Skype very often, but the life which I had only 2 weeks ago now seems something irrelevant to me. I had my husband and Pi-chan in the small apartment and I had a few good friends there and my social life was such and such…I feel all those things were what happened to my previous life and I can’t even remember it well. That’s why I can’t regain the feeling as Kirin at Tokyo Kawaii, etc.

I have no idea what happened to me. It’s not that I lost memory or somebody spelled me (lol). Before I came here, I was willing to write many interesting posts from Australia, but I just don’t feel like that now any longer. Maybe later, when I have some days off, I can find kawaii goods or interesting things in the city area and I may feel like writing a post.

The environment changed from a crowded area with large population to a lot of space, green, and wild animals. (I saw 3 wild kangaroos in a morning!) The life style changed from late-to-bed and late-to-rise to the other way round. My diet changed from eating 3 big meals to 2 small meals + some fruits, naturally. I always tend to think too much, but over here I don’t. I think I’m more relaxed here. It’s my work style from computer that is the same. That’s the only common practice among all those differences.

I may write a different taste of post for a while. I’m feeling myself a different type of me. In other words, if I were from Australia I wouldn’t write a blog with TKE’s taste. I’m not saying good or bad, it’s just I feel myself different from the Kirin in Tokyo. OK, I sound weird. I know. :p Have you had a similar experience in a foreign country? BTW, I’m not homesick. lol

Sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full bloom now in Tokyo! (Some of the following pictures were taken while about 80% bloomed. ^ ^)
On the way back home from the nearest train station, I was riding a bicycle and then took some pictures.

It’s a park where I walk Pi-chan everyday. The weather was very good on this day and the Sakura looked so pretty against blue sky.

I’ve practiced a koto music titled “Sakura Hensou Kyoku” (You can think of it as “the Sakura Variations”) since some time in February so that I can play it well for this Sakura season. Unfortunately I was unable to spare enough time to practice it and I have not played the latter part of the music but I just wanted to share this Sakura music with you while we have Sakura now.

It’s a shrine in front of my apartment.

Spring has come!
Kirin