I was mindlessly surfing and reading recent entries from some other bloggers and noticed a survey posted at What Japan Thinks. It turns out that 50.3% of people surveyed agree with me that 7-11 has the best combini bento. I really like to eat and cheap, tasty Japanese food pleases me greatly.
Here's a short video I found that demonstrates just how convenient a combini really is...
Ha! So they're not really quite THAT convenient, but you can pick up most anything you need while you're out and about. And if it starts to rain, you can pop in and buy one of the ubiquitous clear plastic umbrellas for about 500 yen. The cashiers even removed the plastic wrap for us so we would be all set when we stepped out into the rain. Talk about good customer service!
One thing that I didn't notice in the video was the "Irashaimase!" from the staff when you walk (or in this case, drive) in. That's the standard greeting that you received from the people working at any type of retail establishment in Japan. I heard it at every single store I visited. Every time. It may be followed by a few other things, such as the name of the store, but you will invariably be welcomed with "Irashaimase!" No response or acknowledgement is necessary, but if you're the only person in earshot, you may feel awkward saying nothing. "Ohayou," "Konnichi wa" or "Konban wa" won't hurt anything. Unless you say the wrong greeting for the time of day. Then you'll just sound goofy :)
Here's a short video I found that demonstrates just how convenient a combini really is...
Ha! So they're not really quite THAT convenient, but you can pick up most anything you need while you're out and about. And if it starts to rain, you can pop in and buy one of the ubiquitous clear plastic umbrellas for about 500 yen. The cashiers even removed the plastic wrap for us so we would be all set when we stepped out into the rain. Talk about good customer service!
One thing that I didn't notice in the video was the "Irashaimase!" from the staff when you walk (or in this case, drive) in. That's the standard greeting that you received from the people working at any type of retail establishment in Japan. I heard it at every single store I visited. Every time. It may be followed by a few other things, such as the name of the store, but you will invariably be welcomed with "Irashaimase!" No response or acknowledgement is necessary, but if you're the only person in earshot, you may feel awkward saying nothing. "Ohayou," "Konnichi wa" or "Konban wa" won't hurt anything. Unless you say the wrong greeting for the time of day. Then you'll just sound goofy :)
1 comments:
7-11 was HEAVEN in Japan when we went. I wish American 7-11s were like Japanese ones. I hate walking into a gas station and I can't find the bento section!
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