I left home later than I said I would…

I jogged down towards Nakano-Sakaue Station and decided I’d just take a train to Shinjuku to save time. I took out the PASMO card I bought in January and topped it up with Â¥1000 (AU$10). Waited 9 minutes for the train, but it came on time. And just as the website said, it took exactly 3 minutes. The time changed from 8:21pm to 8:22pm as I got off the train. That’s kinda scary (but most probably a coincidence).

I exited via the West Exit (Nishi-guchi) and walked around… started off at Yodobashi Camera where a very friendly salesman took me through all their many many cameras. The cheapest he was offering me was around Â¥30000+ (AU$300) so I told him I’d think about it and come back to him. I then went to the Sakuraya next door (which I bought my Electronic Dictionary at earlier, in January) and happened to see the same person who bought me the dictionary. This is funny because in January, in order to buy a dictionary that was only for sale to Japanese residents, I lied and told him I’d be in Japan for a year. So him seeing me again tonight was probably a GOOD thing.

He ended up offloading me to a female colleague, who was much friendlier (and less of a freak) anyway. She showed me to this FujiFilm camera, Finepix J10 which was very basic but cost a little under Â¥20000 (AU$200). I added a 2GB SD card and a case, which was given to me for free as I used my loyalty points on my card, and completed the purchase. I left and then walked into Kabukicho (a.k.a. Red Light District, hehe) for some dinner. I suppose it would have been wise to eat somewhere Japanese but I didn’t have any plans or anyone to eat with so I just grabbed something to eat at McDonalds. Allow me to point out, by the way, that it’s rude to eat while walking in Japan – this means you have to sit down and eat whenever you buy something, or alternatively, take it home before eating it.

I often get comments about the Japanese portions being ridiculously small and unfulfilling. When I walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the MegaMac. It looked big in the photo, but I knew better than that (think about the Whopper in Australia, anyone?) For the fun of it, I decided to order it. I gotta say, it was bigger than I expected and filled me up…

Mega Mac Meal

After that, I went for a little walk around Kabukicho to settle my now bloated stomach. Nothing much has changed over there, it’s still pretty crappy. 😛 I decided to walk home so I could charge the camera. I stopped by the Kitsuen Corner (Smoker’s Corner) to have a smoke, and I noticed this guy. He was wearing his jeans really low, similar to the style in which black rap artists have popularised, but much lower than that. Like, indecently low.. lol. Sometimes the fashion here can be a little too much. To each their own, I suppose.

I ended up passing by a 3F convenience store to get some Onigiri (Â¥250), then I went to the 99 Yen Shop we used to go to all the time – only to notice that it had been taken over by Lawson! It’s now a Lawson 100. Bought some cup-noodles (just in case I get hungry and cbf leaving to eat) and a bottle of Dr Pepper (we NEED more vendors in Australia T.T). I also grabbed a blank video (Â¥105) so I could tape some Japanese TV and send it home to Aus.

I got home at around 10pm and the aircon had turned itself on around 30 minutes earlier. I was sweaty from having walked for half an hour to get home, but the aircon had already cooled down the apartment so I felt good. Even the smell of cigarette smoke from earlier had completely gone, thanks to the electronic exhaust system included in this apartment. I love it I love it I love it ………!!

I found out that it is infinitely cheaper to use Skype to call local Australian and even Japanese numbers. I’m paying approximately AU$0.03 per minute using Skype in comparison to $3 using my 3 handset. Guess who’s going to be on Skype ALOT now! I recharged with $16 for the moment to try it out. Gotta call my grandparents tomorrow. It’s later than I thought! Going to bed now, I’m going to try to catch my church service tomorrow morning in Roppongi. 🙂