Is it okay if I eat my bento next to you? And off to Taichung '25 Autumn in Taiwan Part 6 2-3-5

It's almost time to board, I thought, and decided I really wanted a TRA bento, so I headed to the shop. The stall was already sold out. Well, a HSR bento will do, I thought, but when I peeked, they were on break. I remembered there was a large TRA bento shop, so I went there, managed to buy a bento, and boarded.

Finding my seat... It looked like it was by the window, so I headed over, but there was already someone in the aisle seat. It was someone who looked like a woman, even without wearing particularly feminine clothing.

I sat down and we departed. It was quite crowded. At the next stop, Banqiao—yes, that Banqiao—a large number of people boarded and it became full. I was glad I had made a reservation... but then... from around here, I started to worry about what to do—should I open my bento or not? No matter how I thought about it, it was a bento that seemed like it would smell. I decided to wait until someone else in the car started eating first.

Well, first, a beer... I carefully took it out of the cooler bag and poured it into a cup. This train swayed quite a bit for a while after leaving Taipei. It wasn't in a state where I could leave the cup on the table. I drank it while thinking, 'I want to eat my bento (I want it as a snack).'

With less than an hour left, there was almost no beer left. And as far as I could see, no one was eating a bento. Of course, no one was drinking alcohol either. But, oh well! Forget it, I'm going to eat my bento! I performed the ritual of opening it and started eating while facing the window. I couldn't bring myself to ask the person next to me, 'Is it okay if I eat my bento?', but eating an ekiben on the train is the best, and my decision must have been the right one.

And so, I arrived at Taichung Station.