Yesterday, as I roamed the city, I discovered that people in general tend to be nice. I also discovered the city! I only walked around small streets in my first night out, but now I actually saw banks, etc. Many many big things. I went to the post office to take money out of the international ATM, etc. Of course, I had my second gaijin moment while I was walking at this ‘J-mall’ or ‘Friendly Street’ which is like a mall, except that it’s not really indoors. It’s more like, many shops in the street and then there’s roof between the buildings, so you get the feeling that it’s sort of indoors, but not really. The streets look like they are only for walking, but they are not. People walk, bike, and drive in the same streets, so you have to be careful. I, being a careless gaijin, crossed a street without paying attention and realizing that there is actually a traffic light that you, as a pedestrian, need to obey. I only realized by the honk of an angry woman who had the right to go. I learned my lesson, pay more attention.
After that I walked the streets paranoid that I was in the way of someone (some bike, or car, or something) so I looked to the sides and behind me as often as once every 5 seconds. After a bit I calmed down and just enjoyed the mall.
My breakfast that day were two rice balls, with the seaweed cover and a filling that I didn’t really ask what it was. They were both delicious, and each cost me 100 yen (which is ~$1.05), while a bottle of tea cost me an extra 100 yen. My breakfast was a total of 300 yen. Not bad. I think the woman from that shop is going to become a good friend of mine by the time I leave Osaka. 😀
For late lunch, at around 3pm, I had some ‘grilled’ noodles with soy sauce and chicken. These cost me 450 yen (~$4.75) and I thought they were pretty good. I got them from one of the random food shops on the street nearest to were I live.
I went to a supermarket called ‘Don Quijote’ and it seemed like a merge of a supermarket, a video store, and a electronics store put together. Oh, and an accessories shop, too. There was food (I got a big bottle of tea of about 2L for less than $2), detergents, alcohol, batteries, alarm clocks, TV’s, purses, glasses, watches, etc. etc. The electronics were quite cheap compared to the comparable ones you get in America. A really nice flat TV of I think 26” was something like $550, I think. An alarm clock which also displays the humidity, temperature, and date, was no more than $30. What I found interesting about this store was that they had a mix of expensive things and really cheap things. There were $20 purses next to $400 bulgari purses. And that trend was repeated among other things, watches, wallets, etc.
In the afternoon I went back to the Internet Café and checked for Free Wi-Fi spots around Osaka. I luckily found one close to the ‘Lucky Street’ area, so I ran down there and used the internet for a bit. That’s how I was able to post my first blog entry and set of pictures. I was also able to get in touch with a few people over e-mail, reply to a few e-mails, and talk to Jess Kim online about how she was doing in Tokyo. That one is living at a sakura house so she actually has internet access in her room! Lucky.
Anyway, a few hours later I went to the bank to get some more cash, and I came to my room in the afternoon somewhere around 7pm. I fell asleep on my bed soon after and woke up at midnight, so I just rolled over and went to bed again. I woke up at 4am to bathe (yes, not shower, bathe), and go through my morning routine. I got floss yesterday, so I was finally able to floss. Now I have a beautiful, healthy gum once again. Now it’s almost 6am, so I’m going to head out to the free wi-fi spot to check my e-mail and see if I got one from my lab supervisor with the information on how to find the lab I’m supposed to report to, today. For some reason I feel I should have figured that out earlier…
I’m also calling my mom, cause last time I called her it was after midnight at home. It should be 5pm now so she must be awake. 😀
Thanks for reading! I’ll try to not make this posts gigantic any longer. Pictures again posted on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2085364&id=712370&l=3769d32933
御丸
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