Fruit

When Cricket came to visit us in Charlotte the past few weeks, she and Kristen gave the juicer a workout every morning. Pineapples, oranges, apples, mangos, bananas - you name it, it was pulped. After the juice-a-thon, we thought it would be nice to bring Cricket and Jeff a juicer as a housewarming gift. We were able to find the exact same trusty Waring Pro model that my Dad and Maria gave us for Christmas several years ago at Macys, and it fit in my way oversized suitcase with room to spare for a few changes of clothes to get me through two weeks. Little did we know that fruit was a treat not to be juiced in Japan.

The first stop we made after we got into town was the Food Show at Tokyu Place in Shibuya. I was a little shocked to see a small watermelon with a $45 price tag. Melons are now my official benchmark for the international fruit market. Yesterday at the "American" supermarket, National Azabu in Hiroo, we spotted a $60 cantelope. Good cantelope? I'm not always good at picking a good one. We passed up $1 cantelopes at Harris Teeter the day before we left because we didn't think we'd be able to finish one.

Today, we went to what may have been a fruit boutique in Roppongi. I've never seen a square watermelon before. Nor had I seen a $157 melon either. But there it was - wrapped with a bow (as it should have been). There was also a $157 cantelope and $100 peaches. $50 apples (they were rather large) and a box of 48 cherries for $150.

Now that we know that it could cost $400 to make a smoothie, it might explain why juicers aren't as popular in Japan. Maybe we'll have to help Cricket plant a few fruit trees around her patio before we leave. Or figure out how to make dark-chocolate frappachinos with a juicer.