We decided to go out exploring on our bicycles. It was a pretty hot day, so one of the first places I stopped was a drugstore to get sunscreen lotion. Thanks to my quick thinking earlier that day, I had loaded the palmpilot with a japanese dictionary program, the trustworthy and free 'Dokusha.' I was able to look up the word for sunscreen and request it. It came in a tiny bottle that cost nearly 4 dollars, but that's not too unlike America, now is it. :P
We went around a couple parts of Hikone to which we have never been, looking for a way up into the mountains. We saw Hikone-jo (Hikone Castle) but did not ride up to it. Instead we went around to this big bridge and halfway up a mountain before giving up on the path leading up and turning back. It really stinks having bikes without gears.
The final image is a plaque found on the bridge. It says: The 62nd year of the Showa Era | ???
I can't read the second half, due to poorly-written kanji. I think it is referring to the year in which the bridge was built. The Showa Era is the period between 1926.12.25-1989.1.7, so it was built in 1988.
From there we decided to go back into town. To the bookstore.
This is a small ish bookstore not far from the school. It's pretty nice; we found a lot of manga and novels inside, school books, and even "Harry Potter" and "The Davinci Code." (I had to quote that or you'd think the japanese had invented a crossover merger between the worlds of witches and magic-using schoolchildren and the obfuscated puzzles of Leonardo DaVinci.)
Our next destination was the AL Plaza, a big Depato (Department Store) with a McDonalds; lunch.
It tasted just like they make it at home, but strangely I didn't feel like I missed eating it.
The store was pretty simply laid out. Each floor had a theme, mens wear, women's wear, housewares, and other stuff. Our store of interest was the 100 Yen store. Where everything is 100 yen. One can save a lot of money by shopping here. I bought a package of q-tips and a set of screwdrivers. We'll probably go back for tupperware and a few other goods.
On another floor were lots of CDs, DVDs, and a bookstore. I tested shooting a video with the camera, so you can watch that here. The video quality is extremely poor, and I don't know if there is a way to improve it. And there is no sound.
And a picture of the Men's Plaza floor.
Oh, we also discovered a curiosity. Self-explanatory, I think.
No, that is not a long-shot urinal. It's a toilet, and they had these in the women's bathrooms as well.
And no, I did not use it.
I took a few pictures on the way back home of some houses we saw, and one of the street. More tiny japanese cars...
We passed a graveyard and a monument of some kind...
And I took some pictures of the outside of JCMU...
And at the end of the day we went for a swim in lake Biwa. The water was surprisingly warm and comfortable. Closing off the end of the day we had a sunset.
For dinner I made everybody Curry and Rice. I had to run to the store in the evening to get onions, carrots, and potatoes for it. The curry powder I used, however, has peanut butter in it, so I wasn't able to enjoy it much. I didn't get sick, though, luckily.
Don went to sleep early tonight and I think I'll be going to bed in a few minutes. I'm low on energy tonight but tomorrow we have our placement tests that determine which level of Japanese we enter. I should do just fine.
1 comment:
Hehehe, yay for department stores with no walls, it's all seperated by sections of carpet, though you have to ring up in each section like it was a seperate store...
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