yamaya

First off, I have to get this out of my system. I ordered a book from Amazon Japan, paid for it and it was to be delivered yesterday (Thursday). Satoshi had the day off, so we did some errands. We came back and I saw the package sticking out of our mail box at the entrance to our building.

Now, our mail box has a trap door that the mail deliverer can slip things in, but most times you would not be able to fish things out unless you open the door with the combination.

So, the delivery guy shoved the package into the mail box and because the door has that trap door area, the package went in, but refused to come out....

I pulled at it, tried to wiggle it out. I even opened the door with the combination but was afraid I was going to break the trap door. In the meantime, Satoshi had gone upstairs, not knowing what was happening.

After 5 minutes, I finally got the package out by wiggling it out of the trap door. The package was badly scraped and it seemed that it was scraped from it trying to fit into the mail box, then from wiggling it out of the trap door. Luckily though, my book wasn't damaged. Still, I called to complain. I was so mad, I almost spoke in English. The woman at the call center apologized, took my delivery number down and told me they would warn the delivery guy. While I think it was good that it saved him/her another trip to deliver the package, saving time and gasoline, I think they should have used more common sense...sigh..Thanks for listening, I feel better...let's move onto something nice...

After posting about making my own cappuccino, my friend Mari, wrote in the comments about a shop that she likes going to called Yamaya.

I checked out their website and realized that I had passed by this place before, thinking they were "just a liquor shop". And I also realized that Tamakikat had taken me to her Yamaya in Kyoto awhile back. (Actually, I kind of thought she did and emailed her to double check...)

The best part is that the store in my neighborhood is just a 30 minute walk away! (I am glad this store isn't closer otherwise I may be there everyday!!)

So, Wednesday, I picked up my lunch at Abientot then walked down to Yamaya.

Of course, I had to walk every aisle.

I bought some Terra chips 298 yen (about US$2.98), Solleone garbanzo 168 yen (about US$1.68), Black Wych beer 498 yen (about US$4.98), Olitalia EVOO 480 yen (about US$4.80), San Paolina diced tomatoes 78 yen (about US$.78) and Valle del Sole whole tomatoes 78 yen (about US$.78).

I couldn't believe how cheap the canned tomatoes were, I never find them under 100 yen in the local supermarkets.

I had seen this beer on Rowena's Flickr page. Yesterday, Satoshi and I tried the beer and the chips. I liked the beer, it had a hint of chocolate and was a little bitter. The chips were good too, kettle-style, thick and salty...mmm!

This place had a lot of great items and was cheaper than the gourmet supermarket that I have been shopping at. And the beans were in a box rather than a can. A recent can of beans that I bought had half the amount of beans that this box version had and was more expensive!

I want to bring Satoshi with me the next time so he can help me carry some wines and beer.

Thanks again for the tip, Mari!

Yamaya
4-1-27 Makiochi
Phone: 072.720.5058
Open 10:00-22:00

Hope you have a good weekend!