5 ms·

Getting a hot chocolate out of a vending machine while the sky is dumping snow is one of life's many sublime pleasures.

by ISL 9y ago

DamonHD 9y ago
Getting a painfully hot can of sake out of a street vending machine was an interesting experience for me, albeit in Tokyo. Seeing my ryokan vending machine stock some mixture of underwear, shoes, toiletries and just possibly food (that may have been a separate machine), also!
saryant 9y ago
After the Fukushima earthquake I was walking from Ebisu to Roppongi (all the subways were shuttered). A cold evening and I wasn't properly dressed. Then I turned the corner and saw a machine with Tommy Lee Jones' staring down selling hot cans of Boss Coffee. Made the night a little easier.
- beefsack 9y ago
  I used to love the coffee vending machines until I accidentally got one with jelly chunks in it and was afraid to ever try again. We had a Cup Noodle vending machine on our university campus which sold the elusive curry flavour, possibly the food I'm most nostalgic about from my time living over there.
  - Danieru 9y ago
    Just a small guess, but was that a Dydo stocked vending machine? Dydo stuff tends to be what the absolute cheapest vending machines offer. About five times I have bought a Dydo coffee, and five times I have decided to never do so again. Any of the Coca-Cola or Kirin (Pepsi does not exist beyond the brand here) stocked vending machines should be good and safe.
- FajitaNachos 9y ago
  The Hard Black. Delicious.
- CryptoPunk 9y ago
  Do you know long the coffee cans are kept heated? I'm concerned that those cans have had hot coffee in them for days on end, which is generally not good for food (heat breaks down its nutrients and often produces free radical byproducts).
  - jdale27 9y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_can https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_can
    - Cthulhu_ 9y ago
      Neat. I have / used to have a pair of 'hand warmers', plastic bags with a fluid of sorts and a copper (?) coin you can 'flip over', the click / shock causing the fluid to crystallise and generate heat. Those can be reused too by putting the (crystallised) bag into hot water for a bit.
    - CryptoPunk 9y ago
      Are the heated cans sold in the Japanese vending machines self-heating cans? EDIT: According to this, the Japanese ones keep the cans heated: http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/article/10273776/hot-can-vending-initiatives-emerge-in-the-us http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/article/10273776/hot-can-v... >>Proprietary heating technology >>Unlike hot can drink machines in Japan, the Starbucks machine does not keep the steel cans heated. Instead, the container heats after the customer makes a selection.
      - jdale27 9y ago
        Not sure in general, but I'm pretty sure I have encountered the self-heating kind in Japan.
peterwwillis 9y ago
For me it was the hot milk tea. Almost impossible to find in the West, every morning at near freezing temps I could cling to a metal piping hot can of sweet milk tea. I can't go a day in .jp without grabbing a can. What really surprised me is how in a place like Tokyo the machines seemed to only reliably function using change, whereas in Norway you pay for bus station lockers and public toilets with credit cards.
- rwmj 9y ago
  "Royal Milk Tea" is easy to make (although it's hard to clean the pan afterwards). Boil a cupful of milk with a teabag in it. Once it's boiled, take out the teabag and add sugar. In fact I think I might have one right now ...
  - rangibaby 9y ago
    I make mine Malaysian style: 1. Make a syrup out of brown sugar by heating it in a pan with some water. The real recipe uses palm sugar but brown sugar is close enough. 2. Put it in a cup, then evaporated milk, then strong black tea. 3. Mix to taste. The three layers don’t mix together on their own. The more you mix it the sweeter the drink gets.
- rangibaby 9y ago
  You’ll love Teh C if you ever visit Malaysia. The real secret to good hot milk tea is using evaporated milk.
- gkanai 9y ago
  More and more vending machines work with Pasmo/Suica stored credit cards these days fwiw, especially those near the train stations or conbinis.
- masklinn 9y ago
  > For me it was the hot milk tea. Mine was the hot lemon tea.

Getting a hot chocolate out of a vending machine while the sky is dumping snow is one of life's many sublime pleasures.

by ISL 9y ago

Getting a hot chocolate out of a vending machine while the sky is dumping snow is one of life's many sublime pleasures.

Getting a painfully hot can of sake out of a street vending machine was an interesting experience for me, albeit in Tokyo. Seeing my ryokan vending machine stock some mixture of underwear, shoes, toiletries and just possibly food (that may have been a separate machine), also!

saryant 9y ago

After the Fukushima earthquake I was walking from Ebisu to Roppongi (all the subways were shuttered). A cold evening and I wasn't properly dressed. Then I turned the corner and saw a machine with Tommy Lee Jones' staring down selling hot cans of Boss Coffee. Made the night a little easier.

beefsack 9y ago
I used to love the coffee vending machines until I accidentally got one with jelly chunks in it and was afraid to ever try again. We had a Cup Noodle vending machine on our university campus which sold the elusive curry flavour, possibly the food I'm most nostalgic about from my time living over there.
- Danieru 9y ago
  Just a small guess, but was that a Dydo stocked vending machine? Dydo stuff tends to be what the absolute cheapest vending machines offer. About five times I have bought a Dydo coffee, and five times I have decided to never do so again. Any of the Coca-Cola or Kirin (Pepsi does not exist beyond the brand here) stocked vending machines should be good and safe.
FajitaNachos 9y ago
The Hard Black. Delicious.
CryptoPunk 9y ago
Do you know long the coffee cans are kept heated? I'm concerned that those cans have had hot coffee in them for days on end, which is generally not good for food (heat breaks down its nutrients and often produces free radical byproducts).
- jdale27 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_can https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_can
  - Cthulhu_ 9y ago
    Neat. I have / used to have a pair of 'hand warmers', plastic bags with a fluid of sorts and a copper (?) coin you can 'flip over', the click / shock causing the fluid to crystallise and generate heat. Those can be reused too by putting the (crystallised) bag into hot water for a bit.
  - CryptoPunk 9y ago
    Are the heated cans sold in the Japanese vending machines self-heating cans? EDIT: According to this, the Japanese ones keep the cans heated: http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/article/10273776/hot-can-vending-initiatives-emerge-in-the-us http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/article/10273776/hot-can-v... >>Proprietary heating technology >>Unlike hot can drink machines in Japan, the Starbucks machine does not keep the steel cans heated. Instead, the container heats after the customer makes a selection.
    - jdale27 9y ago
      Not sure in general, but I'm pretty sure I have encountered the self-heating kind in Japan.

peterwwillis 9y ago

For me it was the hot milk tea. Almost impossible to find in the West, every morning at near freezing temps I could cling to a metal piping hot can of sweet milk tea. I can't go a day in .jp without grabbing a can. What really surprised me is how in a place like Tokyo the machines seemed to only reliably function using change, whereas in Norway you pay for bus station lockers and public toilets with credit cards.

rwmj 9y ago
"Royal Milk Tea" is easy to make (although it's hard to clean the pan afterwards). Boil a cupful of milk with a teabag in it. Once it's boiled, take out the teabag and add sugar. In fact I think I might have one right now ...
- rangibaby 9y ago
  I make mine Malaysian style: 1. Make a syrup out of brown sugar by heating it in a pan with some water. The real recipe uses palm sugar but brown sugar is close enough. 2. Put it in a cup, then evaporated milk, then strong black tea. 3. Mix to taste. The three layers don’t mix together on their own. The more you mix it the sweeter the drink gets.
rangibaby 9y ago
You’ll love Teh C if you ever visit Malaysia. The real secret to good hot milk tea is using evaporated milk.
gkanai 9y ago
More and more vending machines work with Pasmo/Suica stored credit cards these days fwiw, especially those near the train stations or conbinis.
masklinn 9y ago
> For me it was the hot milk tea. Mine was the hot lemon tea.