I spent my first night in Japan in Shibuya. When I arrived early Sunday evening, Shibuya Station was packed. I spent 15 minutes just meandering my way out of the station, caught in the flow of people.
I emerged at Shibuya Crossing and saw a crowd of people spilling out of a glass-walled area for smokers.
For dinner, I found tsukemen, ordered and purchased via a vending machine.
As expected, lots of loud slurping filled the restaurant. Not wanting to be rude, I slurped too. It was a novice slurp, muted and sputtering, instead of boisterous and juicy.
The more I ate, the better it tasted and I had a gigantic pile of noodles to eat!
A little boy sitting next to me ate all of his noodles. A tiny woman who could wear me as a roomy coat ate all of hers, too.
Everyone in this place cleaned their plates of noodles and drank their soup.
When they finished, they proudly plonked their plates on the counter in triumph and everyone behind the counter shouted in appreciation. 🙌
But I was running out of room. I thought, if I eat all of these noodles, I’ll pass out. But what would happen if I plonked my plate up on the counter with a sizable pile of noodles still on it? The shame exacted upon me could also cause me to pass out.
So I ate it all. I peer-pressured myself into a carb coma and was deliriously, painfully sated. 😜
I wandered back to Shibuya Crossing, which was now even more crowded and resplendent than before I ate 5 kilos of noodles.
On various corners, people were making music:
I ducked into a duty free beauty product emporium bustling at 10 pm. It was filled with impossibly thin, impeccably dressed people with faces punctuated by eyelid surgery and flawless skin. 💅
I picked out some toothpaste and tried to figure out what this is because I am certain that I need it:
This figure with glowing upper arms and waistline reminded me of the mountain of noodles I ate and I asked for some diuretics to try to stave off some of the water retention that was inevitable.
This is a country of people who eat noodles and rice late into the night, washing it all down with rice wine — they must ALL take diuretics. Maybe it is just added to the water supply, like fluoride.
When I showed the clerk Google’s translation of “diuretics” into Japanese, she asked if this was for a baby.
Yes, that’s the key. I guess they start early here, with baby diuretics? 👶💦
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