A few weeks ago the family planned to go camping this weekend, and Mark and I decided to check the weather forecast around Wednesday before committing. Since we’re in the thick of the rainy season, the odds of a rainy weekend were pretty high. Not surprisingly, Sunday’s forecast calls for heavy rain and thunderstorms. Having done our fair share of rain camping (hey there Jill, David, Meagan, Scott, John, Kristen, Tami, and Peter!!), we nixed the camping plans.

With a suddenly-free weekend I decided to take the boy on a Just Us trip to Osaka. So I booked Shinkansen bullet train tickets and found a hotel and packed a bag. 

The Shinkansen bullet trains beats flying any day! One important part of Shinkansen travel? Arriving at the station early enough to buy snacks. No one gets excited at the rather grim/fried options at places like Penn Station in New York. By contrast, buying beautiful food before boarding a Shinkansen is just part of the deal. 

Cy and I took the bus and subway from our house to Shin Yokohama station with plenty of time for snack shopping. We headed up to the two-story Takashimaya Foodmaison and weighed our options. Fried food?Or maybe fried food on a stick…Dumplings……sushi….…bento, lots of ways……and pastries, just to name a few choices. The Foodmaison includes the swankiest grocery store you’ll ever see, but strangely no fruit already cut up. The Shinkansen platform itself even includes one last snack shack for grabbing a bite or buying a last minute gift, just in case you made it that far without succumbing to temptation. We’re on the Shinkansen now, due to arrive in Osaka in just over two hours. Stay tuned!