Monday, July 14th: Take Out Dinner from Mitsukoshi

Well, I finally braved the never ending "depachika" at Mitsukoshi and gathered up our dinner. Depachika is a fusion of the words depa (Department Store) and chika meaning basement. Almost all the department stores have these, but I've only so far been to Mitsukoshi. I could hardly focus on any one thing with so many counters to chose from! Of course, I almost bought unsteamed dumplings (with no way to steam them and, frankly, not knowing that they needed to be), but thankfully the woman behind the counter made it clear to me by handing me a pre-printed card explaining the situation in English. Instead, we had two little salads- one with cold seafood (tiny scallops and squid)- as well as small calzones (a break from the usual rice or sushi). It was all delicious, but none so much as the dessert! This was from a French bakery, Angelina, and it was some sort of chocolate bomb- chocolate on the outside, whipped cream on the inside and a meringue crust on the bottom. YUM. They packaged this up with the teeniest little ice packets- like the ones you might use for a bruise- to keep it cold for a few hours. Honestly, everything here is so cute and small!