Slice of Life: The Outdoor Store

The majority of people who read this blog are in the colder portions of the northern hemisphere.  That's why this picture may be surprising to them.  It turns out that in warmer cities, sometimes food stores are outside.  And not just fresh fruit shops -- entire convenience stores are often set up on sidewalks, like this  one in Singapore.  At least this one's in a tent.  I've seen full retail stores set up with nothing overhead at all.  And not fly-by-night mom-and-pop operations.  Real, branded chain stores like the 7-Eleven above.  It make sense when you think about it.  When you're just a few degrees off the equator it makes more sense to only refrigerate what needs to be refrigerated, and leave the rest exposed.

A Taste of Chicago in Tokyo

If there's one thing I've learned roaming around the world, it's that you never know when you might run across the word "Chicago."  From Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill in Hong Kong to this "Chicago"-branded used clothing store in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo.  In some places, I've found that people don't even realize that Chicago is the name of a city.  They think it's a brand like Nike or Levis.