More food, and also a food container

Photos:

• Top left: I went to a bakery with my friend and this was the cinnamon roll that I bought. To the untrained eye, it probably looks like a pretty unoriginal pastry. I prefer to think of it in a much more exciting way: a cinnamon roll volcano.
• Top right: This, while not necessarily food-related, fits into the food category because it involves an item that is intended to contain food. This is actually a photo of our building maintenance crew's solution to a strange leak in our ceiling. No joke, the professionals in their uniforms came in and taped a plastic take-out container to our ceiling and then just left it there. Nearly two weeks later, it's definitely still there...
• Bottom left: my host mom taught me how to make "gyoza," which are incredibly delicious dumplings made with minced vegetables and either pork or beef.
• Bottom right: close-up view of my finished product. How did I do? :)

Food!!

I noticed a theme in some of the photos of places I've been to recently:





Photos:

• Top left: buy your Ramen or Soba noodles in a can! This vending machine is at the train station in Akihabara.
  
• Top right: Right next to that same vending machine is a "Milk Stand", a convenience store for milk--and milk products--only. You can get cold milk, hot milk, apple milk, orange milk, "fruits" milk (whatever that means), strawberry milk, coffee with milk, milk enriched with iron...you get the idea. Japanese people have an affection for dairy that is sometimes inexplicable.
  
• Middle left: the Wendy's in Ginza sells "humbergers". Mmmmmm...sounds musical!
  
• Middle right: Mustard packet from a family dining restaurant. Notice that it goes well with "frank frutes." I hope that means it also goes well with sarcastic vegetables.
  
• Bottom left: Tokyo Midtown had a special "Sakura Cafe" (sakura = cherry blossom) set up on the lawn especially for the season. Nearly every item in the cafe had some kind of sakura theme: sakura ice cream, sakura wine coolers, sakura sandwiches, etc. My friend ordered a wine cooler and it came complete with an actual cherry blossom in the glass!
  
• Bottom right: No, you can't eat this poster. So I guess in that sense I'm drifting slightly from the theme. But this poster does tell you not to make food messes on the subway. Instead they just recommend that you "Please do it at home!" :)
  

Cherry blossoms, farewells and Japanese beer posters...

Photos:

• Top left: My housemate's farewell dinner, the night before she headed off to Australia.
  
• Top right: My coworker Kenny's farewell dinner with students at a yakitori place in Omotesando. We all thought it was his last day of work because our boss hadn't given him any classes to teach in April, and then found out two days later that our boss changed his mind and put him back on the schedule again...so I guess it was more of a "we're glad you're not leaving" dinner. :)
  
• Middle left: Char and I made my annual trip back to Shinjuku Gyoen to see the cherry blossoms last Thursday. (See last year's posts here, here and here if you want to see more photos.)
  
• Middle right: Good thing the garden is so ginormous; there were people everywhere, even on a weekday, out celebrating ohanami (cherry blossom viewing parties).
  
• Bottom left: another shot from the same garden
  
• Bottom right: not exactly related to the other photos, but I get a chuckle out of the ads in Tokyo for a new kind of beer: "BEER FINE"