Dear readers, it is scorching hot today, and craving a delicious soft serve in Japan has inspired me to sit down and share a few thoughts about ice cream.
By now, I have been living and working in Japan for nearly six years. In this country, from soft-serve to frozen treats, the options are endless, and everything tastes rich and delicious. I usually buy mine from the supermarket for convenience. My taste is quite simple: I always find myself turning to familiar favorites like chocolate, vanilla, or a twist of both.
During the summer, the sweltering heat drives me to eat more ice cream to cool down. Every Sunday, like clockwork, I pick up two ice cream cones at the supermarket to stock up the freezer for the week. Each costs 105 yen—which translates to about 17,325 Vietnamese dong at the current exchange rate of 165 dong per yen. For this quality, it is the perfect summer treat.
The Cheap Soft Serve in Japan at Lamu Supermarket
While frozen treats are nice, truth be told, I still prefer fresh soft-serve ice cream. In Japan, there is a discount supermarket chain called Lamu. It is a 24-hour supermarket that specializes in all kinds of daily groceries and foods. Hearing “24-hour supermarket,” some might expect high prices, but that is not the case at all. The prices at Lamu are incredibly cheap. That is why every Sunday, I grab my shopping bag and head over there to stock up on food for the upcoming week.
In particular, Lamu sells fresh soft-serve ice cream at an unbelievably low price—just 100 yen a cone (about 16,500 Vietnamese dong). It is cheap, but the quality is absolutely top-notch. They offer two basic flavors: vanilla and chocolate. I usually go for the mix. With one bite, the rich creaminess blends perfectly with the fragrant vanilla and the subtle bitterness of chocolate. It is incredibly satisfying, especially under the stifling heat of a summer afternoon.
Eating soft-serve here has its own little charm. Usually, they serve it either in a small plastic cup just the right size for a 100-yen portion, or swirled high on a cone. For me, soft-serve must be eaten on a cone; licking the melting cream while crunching into the crispy waffle is where the true joy lies.
The Ice Cream Bell and Memories of My Father
Sitting here enjoying a soft-serve cone in a foreign land, my heart suddenly sinks, and vivid childhood memories of my homeland come rushing back. When I was little, we did not have refrigerators or convenient supermarkets like we do now. If we wanted ice cream, we had to wait for the street vendors to pass by.
Thinking about it makes me miss my father so deeply. Years ago, my father also earned a living as a traveling ice cream vendor. Looking back now, I truly understand how grueling his hardships must have been. Under the blistering, skin-scorching summer heat, he had to push himself to pedal a rickety bicycle for dozens of kilometers, navigating through narrow alleys to invite customers, all for a few meager coins of profit. After a while, because the work was too exhausting and the income too low, he stopped vending and returned to farming at home.
The ice cream back then was cheap yet incredibly delicious. Every time the familiar “clink-clink… clink-clink” of the vendor’s bell echoed from the top of the alley, my siblings and I would sprint to our mother to beg for money. When she was in a good mood, she would reach into her pocket for a few coins, but there were also days when money was tight and she had to say no. Strangely enough, on the days she kindly gave us money, I would happily run out only to find the vendor had pedaled far away, leaving my childhood self brooding with disappointment for the rest of the day.
Conclusion
This year, I am 37 years old. Living and working on this land of Japan has allowed me to be independent and earn my own living. Now, whenever I crave ice cream, I can just walk out to the supermarket and buy it immediately, without waiting for anyone or asking my mother for money like in the old days.
Even so, while today’s ice cream is modern and delicious, that irreplaceable “taste of childhood” is gone forever. It remains left behind, nestled quietly as a nostalgic memory in a corner of my mind.
But when you think about it, isn’t that just how life goes? If time did not pass and we did not grow older, how would we ever have these precious memories to look back on and cherish?
Thank you, dear readers, for listening to my stories. I wish you all a peaceful day!