Friday, Dec 25

Our procrastination paid off for once. Fearing we’d be stuck in a six-hour line yesterday trying to obtain a non-pre-ordered KFC Xmas dinner that all of Tokyo had pre-ordered for Xmas Eve dinner, we had planned on getting to the nearby KFC early in the morning. As it turned out, we didn’t get there until 11:30am—which is a good time for an early lunch. This was good since we were walking out with a Xmas box of KFC goodness about ten minutes after arriving.

Not sure where the other million people were, but there was not another person to be seen when we arrived. Truthfully, I was a little disappointed.

We had noticed this KFC earlier in the month because we had seen the colonel figure out front wearing a Santa costume and it caught our eye. Thus, after recently reading about the Japanese tradition of having this ‘Kentucky dinner’ as they call it and determining we needed it too, we figured we’d hightail it back to this store. It’s in the Takadanobaba area.

Upon arriving at the store and not seeing a crowd or a photo of the Xmas dinner anywhere outside, and seeing the desk set up for pre-order pick-up next to the front register—I was sure it meant we were out of luck and our chance to partake had come and gone. We walked up to the register tentatively as I quickly tried to decide if I actually wanted a KFC meal if there were no Xmas dinner boxes available. But my hopes swelled as I looked down and spied a pic of it on the counter. We pointed to it with a question mark appearing above our heads like the cartoons. Whether this actually happened may be debatable and a far-fetched notion, but the clerk knew what we were asking nonetheless, and replied in stilted and tentative English, ‘to go?’

‘Yes!’ we answered in unison. Success!

Ten minutes later we had the bag o’ Kentucky goodness and were headed home. Please see video of its unveiling.

As an update to the video: the Chanmery drink was an extra 200yen and is NOT alcoholic, as I had hoped aloud in the video.

Was the meal worth the almost forty dollars we spent on it? As an only-in-Japan experience that includes a priceless, future-heirloom commemorative made-in-China plate: it was priceless!

May the magic of the holidays spread to everyone now and through the coming year.

MERRY Kentucky XMAS to all!