(Day 14) Sushi-Go-Round

Do you remember my tissue rant from the other day? Collecting tissues can become quite a hobby. When Jean lived there, she made a collection of tissues! The tissues are really poor quality and handed out in thin packs, covered with advertising crap on them. Want to meet a sexy lady-friend? Here’s some tissue. Want a new haircut? Here’s some tissue. Want to switch cell phone providers? Here’s some tissue. You get the idea. Free is good, but do you do if you want to cover up those ads and just enjoy the tissue? You need a tissue holder – so I bought one.


This friend made me laugh time and again as I rearranged his face into interesting expressions. How cute.

Anyway, onto the day at hand. Mayuko had class so we had lunch together before parting ways. We went to the local ramen shop and joined the men in slurping delicious noodles. I tried to take advantage of the student discount, but they discriminate against non-locals. Boo!





Kichijoji was my home for the day. Though the weather was brisk, I made my way to Inokashira park to enjoy some greenspace.










…And I thought of Jean here, when we tried to ride those boats and the lady told us they were sleeping. Uh-huh.


I can see some pretty furious hand-holding going on while sitting on these benches if Japanese teens come here for a date. Serious rabu-rabu.






I can totally see this pattern on a slipcover at IKEA.






I guess they were awake today. Or at least awake enough to give these kids a rip around the lake.

I walked around the whole park and then thought heading back into the shopping mecca would be another form of entertainment. I kind of dragged my feet from the park back through the train station to the other side where the shops were. I’m so lazy today.


The fireman says this manhole is for spraying water on passing trains…but why is there a diagonal line across his face?




I love Sun Road shopping arcade!




And, of course, the infamous Loft shop from ‘Last Friends’. Michiru, don’t stop to buy that umbrella! Sosuke is behind you! Ahhhh!

I wandered down some alleys and tried to avoid spending more money. At least for a while. I had a pair of Chloe gloves in mind at OIOI I might go back and buy. Worst!





After giving Muji a good once-over and buying some sushi and bananas from the cheap-o grocery store downstairs, it was, of course, crepe time.





And then I bought the Chloe gloves and a present for Roberta from OIOI and headed home. *Pretends there is nothing wrong with that sentence.*

Once of my favourite experiences in Japan is going for kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi.) I know its cheapo sushi, but you can just grab plates as they pass by! Instant food! Mayuko and I boarded the bus for the closest shop that she knew of.



After a bit of a hike, we arrived at Sushiro…I nearly broke into a run I was so excited.










I thought this was a massive chunk of cheese on top of rice. It was not! It was some nasty raw fish component with a small bit of cheese on top and mayo. Ick!


Yes, that is meatball sushi.



Kaitenzushi in Canada is crazy expensive – like $3+ per plate. No thanks. Here I can polish off, say, 10-11 plates easily and not break the bank. I got introduced to these plates on my last visit when Tanya and I went out to Kappa Sushi every damn night.

After the sushi, Mayuko wanted a Starbucks, so we headed there. Strangely enough, like Costco, Starbucks is the exact same in Japan. I also ran into the prof at Jissen from yesterday. Small world! Not small enough to meet Ryo though. Bah.

Tomorrow is my last day of Japanese adventure. What could be more fitting then spending it at the happiest Japanese place on earth? You know…DISNEYLAND! The people of Japan bring Disney up to a whole new level. I can’t wait!

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(Day 13) Stomping Ground

I’ve started my preliminary packing for the long journey home. Today I’m off to stay at Mayuko’s house for a few days and I won’t be back until the night before departure. Therefore, I don’t want to create too much work for myself and so I beetled away. This morning, I also planned to make the semi-long journey out to western Tokyo to Jissen Women’s University in Hino to meet up with an instructor there for lunch and then bum around for several hours. Sounds busy, right? Let’s get it started in here.


I’m really starting to get used to being called ‘Elin’. I can just hear Tiger’s voice now.

Because of my lollygagging and train infrequency, I was supremely late for my appointed time to arrive in Hino. After a brisk hike up the hill that left me really sweaty and wet from the rain, I arrived at Jissen.



I headed up to the prof’s office, and I was delighted to find a personalized message, just for me, here in Japan. These moments, when someone is expecting you, somehow makes one feel not-so-alone in a foreign place. But I digress.



I met up with the prof for a speed-eaten lunch at the curry shop on campus and then for a lunchtime English conversational group. The girls were all really impressed with my Japan experiences so far and had some questions about Canada. After that, I took a tour of the campus on behalf of my sister who will be attending next year…after the tour I used their washrooms and found this:


WTF is this about. Does the sign say to watch out for the sneaky cat who comes and uses up all the toilet paper? Very strange.

Then I was off on my way back to the train station. I’ll burn up my remaining hours over in Tachikawa, one stop over. Thankfully the walk back to the station is now downhill.



When I came to Japan for the first time, wayyyy back in 2007, I stayed in Tachikawa. Therefore, it will always hold a special place in my heart as the first place I laid my head in this fabulous country.



I put my iPod on and wandered through the antiquated department stores here. There’s nothing better than laughing out loud to The Lonely Island while shopping in the basement of a department store in Japan. Okay, maybe there are better things, but that’s not the point. Stay with me. I saw a small shack serving crepes on the corner and so I decided that now was crepe time.


That is the saddest-looking crepe ever!

There was this lady sitting in the window reading a book and had all the crepes ready-made, waiting to be filled. BAH! Don’t mess with me! I don’t know what “Sapid” means, but I bet it translates to “sad crepes”. I should have known.

I did more wandering.





Tachikawa is pretty much a country town, in relation to downtown Tokyo. Lower-volume of traffic, only one Louis Vuitton store, etc.

I headed back to Hino to meet Mayuko and then we went back to Tachikawa for dinner. Time for Oyakodon (chicken rice bowl with a raw egg on top!)







We had come to Tachikawa to buy our Disney tickets for Saturday. This didn’t stop us from look at other stuff though, and I found one product that was particularly blasphemous.


Terrible!

After a stop at the grocery and drug stores, we finally made our way back home for a night of snacking and watching Arashi in 3-D!




Our makeshift 3-D glasses. We could not stop laughing.


Er…these are all my empty wrappers. Why do they have to individually-wrap everything here? It makes me look like I eat my feelings.







We watched the same 20 seconds of Arashi in 3-D for 10 minutes. We couldn’t stop squealing at all the strange things popping out at us. Cheap thrills!

Tomorrow Mayuko has school so I’m going to haul my cookies on over to Kichijoji and try to make at least one person flustered. I’ll likely succeed.

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