We woke up in Osaka this morning and had a nice easy breakfast. Outside it was sunny and warming up – the cool weather didn’t last very long at all. I helped Kuniko with her English transcription by checking it against the tape she had transcribed. She did really well – there were only a few tricky parts.
For lunch we went to the Indian food place near her house. They had an all-you-can-eat lunch special, but to keep you from eating too much they kicked up the spiciness. I ate my fill and only asked for a couple more tandoori chicken drumsticks. So good.
One of the reasons that I went to Osaka in the first place was to pick up some kanji flashcards that I had seen last time I was in the big bookstore there. We went over to the bookstore and I picked those up, and we also went across the street to Yodobashi camera to look around. They had some candles that I picked up cheap, and I compared the price of the Star Wars box set – it was almost $90 there. I got it for $47 via Amazon. Of course, I don’t have Japanese subtitles on my copies, but still – what a huge difference.
Kuniko was hosting four of her friends at her place, so we separated at Umeda station and headed back. I got back to Futami and spent the afternoon ironing shirts, studying, and watching the pilot for a new TV show called “Lost”. It was OK, maybe I’ll watch another episode or two and see what happens.
A couple of things I should mention about Ito Yokado. One thing is that the grocery store has electronic price tags – there are digital displays for each product. Employees walk around with electronic pads and I’m sure they can change the price instantly on the computer. I don’t think they do price changes in the middle of the day, but it’s a cool idea. Do they have those in America now?
An advantage to living so close to Ito Yokado is the late night price tags. In Japan food is marked down increasingly throughout the day as it gets less fresh. The other day I was in there around 9 p.m., and they had marked down their roast beef by 30%. I’m planning on going over there tonight about a half hour before closing time to see if there is anything dramatic marked down.
That’s about it for today – tomorrow is Friday and I have a busy day. In the evening I’m going to go drinking with a group of teachers, so that should be fun. There’s an outside chance that Kuniko will come over tomorrow night. I’m planning on going bowling with her and some friends on Saturday. I’ve been watching The Big Lebowski looking for pointers.
