天気：曇り
I finally have a new bike, and the best part about it is that I got it for free… I woke up at about 10 this morning, and talked with Simon, who showed his eagerness in getting all the bike registration stuff done this morning; he had Otousan on his back because he’s only allowed to have one bike. So, as soon as I got ready, we made our way over to the bike shop just past Sanko, where he had first purchased the bike. I insisted we walk, since the handle bars on the bike were very loose. Getting there, the old man who runs the store got everything in order for putting the bike in my name. There are actually four stickers you need on your bike – one for the police (a crime prevention sticker), one with your name and address on it, one to register with the university so you can park there, and one so you can park at the seminar house! The bike shop guy proceeded to take off the crime prevention sticker (he had to use a blow torch to get it off), and the address sticker, replacing them with mine. Then I got him to fix my handle bars; a few quick turns with an Allen key and it was sweet. Now I could legally ride the bike, and I did so in earnest, to the university with Simon.
We went straight to the student affairs office in the main administration building, to get a coupon out of a machine, to take to the CIE so I could register my bike with the uni. Getting there, I had to get a photo copy of the paper I got from the bike shop, and fill out a form, presenting that with the coupon; oh Japan, you and your bureaucracy. Anyway, that was all fine, and I eventually got the sticker for my bike; now I could park at the uni. We rode back in the direction of home, deciding to check out Avail. We spent a little while in there, and Simon found something he like (I didn’t), but was in a bit of a rush to get home, so he decided to think on it. He left before me, since he was meeting someone at 11:30. I was in no rush, but ended up leaving not long after him, not really fussed. I ended up meeting him out the front of the seminar house, and he asked me to let Otousan know the switching of hands had taken place, and he no longer had two bikes. I had to talk to Otousan anyway, to get the final sticker I needed; gotta stick ‘em all. So that was that; I was a bona fide bike owner.
I went back to my room, and got talking to Carly. She’s planning to come back to Japan for a two week holiday, with a really good deal on the plane fare. She’s going to come around the end of May, and looks forward to seeing everyone again, and buying heaps more kimonos at Toji; crazy girl. At around two I had lunch, explaining to yet another person what that green stuff was on my toast; I never get tired of that. I really have been enjoying my avocado and rice on toast for lunch; it’s so good. Back in my room, I did some more chatting, getting my blog updated, before changing the futon linen and vacuuming the floor. After that I was a bit restless, so decided to test out my new bike. I had heard of a great discount store called ドン・キホーテ (Don Kihote – Don Quijote ~ I don’t know the significance of the name. It’s a chain almost exclusive to Japan, with a few stores in Hawaii), past Midori on Highway 1. By foot, it would’ve taken over an hour to get there, but now that I had my bike, it would be totally doable, so I went for it. I’ve pushed the limits of how far I’m willing to walk; now I have to push the limits of how far I’m to bike.
Everything just feels physically closer when you have a bike, and I managed to get there with 30 minutes, the penguin mascot and bright colours making it stand out. I parked out back, and entered. It was absolutely packed, floor to ceiling, of stuff; incredibly dense too. It had two storeys, and I casually browsed, not really finding anything of interest; it was after all, a junk shop. My face did light up however when I finally stumbled upon the imported junk foods section, and found Tim Tams and Doritos. And wow the Tim Tams were way cheaper than they had been on Rokkosan; I guess that makes sense. I didn’t get too carried away though, mindful of having only a small basket at the front of the bike. I picked up a few other things, and went to pay. Don Quijote is duty-free for short term residents if they show there passport, and if they spent at least 10,000円 (over $100 dollars in the store); that was definitely not happening. Happy with what I got, I made my way back along the highway, wanting to check out a few more stores I had spotted on the way. I went to a video-game/DVD place (forgotten the name of it), and got chatting with a random Japanese guy for a little while. After browsing for a little while, I left and went in a nearby second-hand clothes shop; a rarity in Japan indeed. Finding nothing I liked, I made my way back to Midori, past car dealers, restaurants, and Sega world. Of course, as soon as I got there, I couldn’t resist going to play one of the electric pianos on display.
After that, I went and browsed the games, and picked up Final Fantasy Tactics A2, and Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the DS, along with a case and screen protectors (with Jack Skellington stickers). I finally got back home at 7:30; I was a little surprised at how long I’d been out. The group were just about ready to watch some more Firefly, so I quickly made scrambled eggs, and took it downstairs. At 9, Rachael had kitchen cleaning duty, and I went up to help; I had to wash my dishes anyway. Biancha, seeing that I was help called me 豪い (erai – admirable), and Yuji went on to explain that erai is used when someone does something even though they don’t have to; there’s probably a good English word for that. It’s also really cool because that word uses the kanji 豪, which stands for Australia; so I was honoured. Getting back downstairs, we continued our viewing and had watched 4 episodes by about 11:30; only 6 more to go. Sleepy, and knowing I’d have to get up early the next day, I went to bed soon after…
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