Marukai & Mitsuwa

And if going to a Vietnamese and Indian Market were enough for one day, we just had to go to Marukai and Mitsuwa as well. Bert hadn't been to Marukai before so I really wanted him to see it, but also because I wanted another excuse to get more snacks and cute items to give as possible gifts. Look at these! Apparently, they are used for bentos. Seems like there's a really big emphasis on the lunches/snacks Japanese moms make for their kids. There was a whole section on items for lunches, like these little picks with zoo animals...
and mini sauce or dressing bottles. They even had these really tiny fish shaped containers that you could put soy sauce or some other sauce in. They are meant to be disposable I believe.

Oooh, and this! Mini spoons! Perfect for the gelato I just bought at Fresh and Easy!

And skinny bendy straws!

Check out this ominous warning though:There were a few other bento items like special cellophane made for wrapping triangular shaped onigiri. It also included tiny sticker/seals so you could have a nicely wrapped onigiri that didn't fall out of the wrapper! There were also tiny containers to hold bits of food, plastic rice in the shapes of hearts, animals, stars, and such. Bert,after much perusing, bought a set of mini Philipps screwdrivers (or were they flathead?). After Marukai, it was just a one minute drive to Mitsuwa in search of Hello Kitty items for TC's secret Santa for PASACAT.

Oh. My. Gosh.

So. Cute! These were cardboard stockings filled with candy and a toy (singular, not plural). They also had Hello Kitty but they were too expensive! For those San-X fans out there, this is Rilakkuma ("Relax Bear")! San-X has cuter and quirkier characters than Sanrio. I like the Wan Room series (household objects) and Kogepan (a burnt bread man). More on San X here . I only have a few San-X items that I bought at the Giant Robot store in LA and also at Comic Con.

Yes, the most logical name for Creamy Powder:

The drinks aisle:

TC thought the black cartoon character was funny because the lips were so pronounced! I didn't buy any Hello Kitty items in the store in the back of Mitsuwa but instead bought a 10-pack of bubble gum with Hello Kitty designs. I think I'll find more Hello Kitt selections at the local Sanrio store at the mall.I really like Asian Pears. They are so sweet, crisp and refreshing, especially after a meal.

Not a big fan of persimmons though, although TC really likes them.

There were a lot of pre packaged food gift sets on display as you walk into Mitsuwa. Forgive me for not knowing the major Japanese holiday coming up, but I assume it's for that. If you do know, please let me know so I can grow a new wrinkle or two on my cortex. I was enamored of these. They look like sweets but are so pretty I wouldn't even want to eat them.

Bert's choice of sweets to go with his morning coffee:

A 4-pack of chocolate covered fruit gummies:

plus the long Hello Kitty bubble gum 10-pack.

What a day! We go out for lunch but end up going to three different ethnic markets in search of specialized items. It's always fun checking out other stores and their merchandise. Makes Ralphs and Vons look pretty boring.