I was introduced to Japanese food, beyond teriyaki, my freshman year in college. My roommate, Maddie, was Korean but had lived in Tokyo for most of her life. Her mother would send huge boxes of stuff, mostly food, from Japan. The boxes contained microwaveable containers of sticky rice, furikake, nori, instant yakisoba, red bean paste cakes, gum and lots of Japanese candy. Maddie always shared.

Since then, I’ve been a big fan of Japanese convenience food. My favorite supermarket had a fantastic supply of Asian food and by default, Japanese snack food. I loved living in Seattle because it was so easy to get Japanese food, especially if I made it to the Mecca of Asian grocery stores, Uwajimaya.

I only went to the huge Asian supermarket in the International District a few times for fun. It’s such a great place to browse around. However, I have a hard time making decisions when in the snack food aisles and when admiring the display of chopsticks.

Yesterday, when my sister, her fiance, my boyfriend and I walked down there from downtown Seattle I had to limit myself to what would fit in one grocery bag: dried bonito flakes, Pocky sticks, rice crakers, mochi, instant yakisoba, natto (more about that another time), two pairs of chopsticks and two soup spoons.

The store is definitely worth going to just to look at all the fun foods. When I’m there, to be cliche, I feel like a kid in a candy store. I kind of am.