Today was a good day, as long as I ignore the stairs part of it. Got up a little later, messed around with colorguard stuff. Both Tamarra and I were late meeting up, so I'm just gonna take that as we were both on time. Had some pastries from a little bakery in Baba station. FINALLY GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE.
Headed off to… Gotanda, to find an english book store Tamarra looked up. It was actually kinda nice, being surrounded by books I knew I could read. Bought a few. I'm going to read them, then leave them with Tamarra's host dad, since he likes reading english books. Spent less than 2000yen, so it's not too bad.
Next was Shibuya, to find a record/book store. That was the third of fourth in Japan so far without being able to find the first Harry Potter book in Japanese. Still no luck. BUT, we also went to the Disney store nearby. I promise I'll put up pictures tomorrow. I just can't tonight. But it was amazing. Anyone who's been to disneyland knows the effort they put into creating a magical space. This was just the same. I'm not talking american disney stores, where you walk in in the middle of the mall, and it's wide, and loud, and looks like the merchandising department spit up everywhere. It was three floors, with beautiful details.
I got a few little things, but the big thing was… DISNEY TICKETS! Finally bought them. They were cheaper than I budgeted, so even better. YES. SO EXCITED. I even feel a little better now, thinking about the tickets I just bought, despite the continuing throbbing pain in my elbow and butt.
We decided stopped by yet another bookstore, no luck, and headed out to find lunch. I suggested going back to Ikebukuro, where there's a book store, and the Japanese version of Dennys. I don't typically like Denny's food back in the states, but everything in Japan has been pretty different so far, and Dennys was no exception. The food was a little spendier, but the service was better, and the staff wore adorable outfits. Menu items didn't include much breakfast fare, but some really fancy looking soups, pastas, "burgers", and steaks. I say "burgers", because in restaurants in Japan, hamburger means almost a steak, drizzled in some sort of sauce, sans any sort of buns. I had one in a curry sauce over rice, and it was very tasty. The best part was the dessert, a chocolate sunday… I've eaten too many sweets today, I think.
Next stop was the book store, where we found a CD for Tamarra (not the exact one she's looking for, but hey…) and FINALLY found the harry potter book for me. First only found it on my own in hard cover. It was only 200yen, so I was willing to do it, but really wanted the paperback version. Found that with the help of some staff. Now I own a slightly used, very purple, Japanese version of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Or, in Japanese, Harii Potta, and the something-sha no Ishi. Welp, time to pull out the kanji dictionary. I've got a lot of work to do…
Got back pretty early, but was exhausted after the combined excursions from yesterday and today. Took what I thought was gonna be a quick nap, but ended up waking up after 8:30, and I guess my host family had knocked three times trying to get me up for dinner. Whoops. We ate rice made with the bamboo shoot I dug up yesterday, and it was very tasty. Also Okonomiyaki again. This version had chucks of pork in it, and was also very tasty. I washed some dishes, went upstairs, then realized I needed to brush my teeth, went to go back downstairs, and fell again on the last few steps. So yeah. Thanks Japan. Constantly having bruises and being in pain is exactly what I need right now.
And that's it. It's always really interesting going anywhere with Tamarra, because I feel we make quite an impression together, me with my red hair, her with her purple. People will actually move out of the way when we walk by, and often stop and stare. On the train today, a couple sat down across from us, and when Tamarra turned her head to talk to me, they noticed her hair. The girl literally gasped, and they sat and whispered to eachother for a little while. I love Japanese reactions. On the other hand, at the bookstore we went to yesterday, there was an older woman, whose hair was died the exact same shade of purple as Tamarra's. I think there's a little bit of a double standard here…
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