Coffee

God I love coffee.  And I'm really glad that Japan supports me in this love affair.  There is a huge variety of coffee options here ranging from 120 yen (a bit more than a dollar) vending machine coffee (piping hot of course) to your fancy shmancy 750 yen coffee served in an elegant cafe by a uniformed waitress (I promise I'm not talking about a maid cafe!)  But my favorite place to get coffee in Japan is at down-to-earth, independent coffee shops, just like in the US.  You can have some really nice interactions with the staff at places like that, especially when it's not too busy.  For example, the other day I walked into a tiny cafe on a rainy day down the street from where I live and saw that the place was empty except for one man (presumably the owner).  He didn't seem especially friendly at first, not overtly rude, just not as welcoming as the staff can be at other places (Japan sets a high bar in that department) but later on as I was sipping on my coffee and studying Japanese, he brought over a sample of some coffee I had inquired about earlier along with a heaping spoon of cream!  As I started to take a sip of the coffee he insisted that I shove the cream in my mouth at the same time, saying that together they would be delicious.  I obeyed of course and sure enough, pure ecstasy.  Long story short, he ended up being a pretty cool guy.  There are a ton of other similar stories but I'll save those for another day. 

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