Instead of getting up at my usual time (five a.m.) this morning, I instead decided to sleep in and see what time I woke up. I ended up getting out of bed around 9:30, which is pretty good for me. I got organized and then hit the road heading north away from our house towards unexplored territory.
It took about a 35 minute walk to get to my destination, a shopping center at the edge of the main toll road crossing east to west through northern Okubo. Getting there was fun – there were a lot of things to see on the way. There was a huge array for apartment/mansions that looked really cheap – kind of like the teacher’s apartments that I used to live in. While my complex just had two buildings, this complex straddled several major streets and had around 20 monster sized buildings. Nearby I found an elementary school that I didn’t know was there, and also a pretty large water resevoir that was topped all the way up.
Upon arriving at the shopping center, I started at the home center. It was the largest one that I’ve ever visited in Japan. It was a lot like a higher-class Home Depot. There weren’t very many customers, and it was a little weird walking through such a huge store with just me and the employees.
Strangely, they had a pet section. In other home centers I’ve seen pet sections as well – I don’t know what the connection is. There were dogs and cats, but the really impressive section was the aquariums. There were lots of fishtanks filled with many different kinds of fish, both tropical and saltwater. I used to keep fish, so I enjoyed walking through. The fish in Japan are a little bit different from the selection back in America. They had a lot more fancy guppies, compared to maybe one tank full at an American pet store. The guppies were divided by type and sex, and there were about 16 tanks full. Also there were varieties of fish that I had never seen before in American stores. It was fun exploring, and I took my time and enjoyed the experience.
There was also a big furniture showcase, and a supermarket/shopping center that was a lot like Ito Yokado. After looking around for a while, I headed back home, and by the time I arrived I was sweating pretty good. It was a nice way to get exercise and see something new.
Not much else to report today. I made crab fried rice for dinner (not so healthy tonight) and watched the latest episode of Lost. I’m going to work on some more Japanese study tonight, and then hit the sack. Tomorrow is Friday, but that isn’t such a big deal anymore.
Next week, from Monday to Wednesday, I’ll be working at Kobe University doing a three day work project for my staffing company. The pay is good, and the work looks interesting. I’ve got to come up with some speech topics and bring them along, so tomorrow I’ll put on my creativity cap and see what happens.
Kuniko is back next Tuesday, so at least it won’t be quite so quiet around here. I’m looking forward to going back to cooking for two!
