Samples of Chirimen with rice at Isetan

Did you see the Lost Boys where he ate Chinese take-out rice but thought they were maggots? Today I stumbled into the Isetan market to buy some soap, only to come across a "Kyushu Fair," upon which a booth minder stopped to ask if I wanted to try some "baby sardines" (or anchovies?). As you can see in the photo, they looked like little white worms or something, and, interestingly, these are meant to be eaten by sprinkling them on top of steamed rice...whoa it's the Lost Boys! Strangely though, it actually sounded pretty good to me, so I tried it. I couldn't really taste it at first (the mango ice cream sandwich taste was still in my mouth), and so she sprinkled on even more of the stuff! Actually, it was pretty good: it was salty and mildly fishy - pretty much what you would expect from Japanese food. They had several mixtures too, including seaweed variations, which I nearly considered buying until I slapped myself on the head, pointing out to myself that I never cook at home anyway and it would just go to waste. But it was just funny because the Lost Boys kept coming into my head the entire time.