How was everyone's week?
I hope you're all doing well.
These past few days I haven't been taking any photos [I've come across nothing too new lately], so I'll just post what I have and we'll see how it works out.
Starting from Wednesday where I left off.
Turns out that I didn't get to go my friend's house because she was sick, so instead I went out with some friends of mine to eat and go to an arcade. It was quite a bit of fun, and I'm glad I had been being stingy up until that point. It wasn't as though I spent much--an all-you-can-eat of Indian curry for roughly $11 seems well worth it, and afterwards spending a few dollars on arcade games was quite enjoyable. Really not too much to say about the arcade that you don't already know, though. I got whipped by a friend of mine at the game that he's obsessed with, but as it was only the second time I've ever played the game, it wasn't too bad. I at least could hold my own for a little while, and that felt pretty good.
After that I caught a train back home and from there went to my room and retired shortly thereafter.
Haha, no I'm just kidding.
I didn't go to sleep until about 3AM that night, but only because my mood had inexplicably soured and I wanted to do everything but sleep.
At least I had Thursday off. And I took it entirely off, staying in my room, watching films, taking naps, and washing my laundry.
It was lovely.
Friday was a Machida day with a few friends, and we went shopping. I finally broke down and bought myself a new pair of jeans since most of mine now are about a size too large, which was silly as I am the 3rd largest size in the average portion of men's pants in Japan, apparently. It was quite silly. I even have to roll up the pants' legs just a little bit, and that was quite surprising for me--only about an inch and a half's worth, though, as my legs are quite long.
I also bought the first three volumes of the Trinity Blood manga in Japanese for studying purposes. Well, sort of. I wanted them anyway, and manga here, if you go to the right places, is really cheap. What would have been 400 yen was 200.
After a while in Machida, buying things both wanted and needed, I headed back home and called it a day.
Saturday, though, I actually went out and did something. So don't worry, I haven't become stagnant and settled just yet. I'm still going places.
Friday night, as I was finishing up washing my sheets, I ran into a friend who was washing her laundry. I asked if she wanted to go with me to a city called Fuchuu and go to a festival for Golden Week [I mentioned it to you all in the previous post, if I remember right..? I don't remember.]. She agreed, and on Saturday afternoon, to Fuchuu we went.
The first thing that greeted my friend and me once we had walked out of the train station.
Lovely.
Of course, we couldn't get to where we were going before getting lost, first. To go a cheaper route, we had to switch stations in Hachouji, a city in-between Fuchinobe and Fuchuu.
Hachouji.
It looks like it would be fun to spontaneously explore one day.
And leave it to good old Google Maps to give me the wrong directions once I was out of the station. After walking in the wrong direction for about a mile, my friend and I finally stopped at a convenient store and asked for directions. Fortunately, they were really easy to understand "Go back to the station and then go right," and we were able to, after that, find the second station without a hitch.
I'm sure the birds were laughing at us, though.
We got onto the train headed for Fuchuu, and sure enough, five stops later, we were there.
In a new place absolutely jam-packed with people on the sidewalks.
With one lady clearly understanding my actions.
Ah, well.
I wanted some tradition in my Golden Week, so my goal in Fuchuu was the Ookunitama Shrine. This place apparently has one of the largest and most important Golden Week festivals, and after I witnessed just how many people had been thinking the same as I, I'm much more willing to believe that claim. Oh my goodness, there were so many people.
But what I was there to see was a parade where they toured the shrine's gods around the streets, and oh goodness. Once the real stuff began, it was so interesting.
The drums were loud enough and had a deep enough resonance to make the ground shake just a little bit every time they were hit. It was absolutely incredible.
After several of these ridiculously large Taiko drums came out, it was time to tour the small shrines for the gods. At about this time, my camera had begun to die, so I wasn't able to get too many photos, but I did manage one:
Lovely, isn't it?
Besides the tradition, though, there was a lot of general festivity and gaiety in general. It was, besides the old standards, full of what I could only really consider to be something of a fair, with the food vendors and games.
And more people!
There were also chocolate covered bananas. Just before we left, I decided I want one. They were 200 yen, and the vendor I went to let you play a game of rock, paper, scissors against him; if you one, you got a second one for free.
And I won. So I had two, and while I wanted to offer one to my friend, she doesn't really eat bananas. It was delicious, but by the time I'd finished the second one, I was painfully full, as we'd eaten earlier.
But winning one for free was quite a bit cheaper than buying a second one. Hahaha.
This guy was a little more creative with his bananas than most were. I appreciated it.
After that, though, we headed back home. It had been several hours crammed up against complete strangers and my friend and myself were both quite tired of it by that point. It was all quite a bit of fun, though.
This is Hachouji all lit-up and sparkly at night. The view on the way back.
Sunday... I feel like I did something, but I can't quite place my finger on what it was at this particular moment. I'm sure it was something, though.
On Monday my classes began again, though. After class, I made spaghetti for myself and some friends of mine, and it was a bit hit, I'm really pleased with how it turned out, although I forgot my camera for photos.
I didn't sleep well on Monday night, though, so on Tuesday, after I did my homework, I went to bed.
And today I had a friend over for dinner again, and together we watched the first four episodes of IT Crowd, and absolutely hilarious British comedy. She wanted to work on her English, especially her British English, as she has trouble understanding it. So I thought it would be a fun way to work on studying.
And luckily enough, she loved it.
Tomorrow is an exam in my Japanese core class, and afterwards, another pal of mine and I will get together and hang out tomorrow evening, I think.
So now that you know what's going on, what did I do to save money?
-Google Maps is good for train directions, and it gives you a list of options, which vary in price. Although my friend and I got lost, we still saved roughly 200 yen that way by using that route.
-In a note that I haven't yet brought up, I'm going to get a hair cut on Monday. I mentioned wanting to know of a cheap, good place nearby, and a native friend of mine immediately volunteered to take me to a place that she knew of where it was about half price of the usual, and they apparently do a good job provided you know what you want. So, with someone who speaks the language better than I going with me, I feel better and more confident about the matter, which I was already feeling pretty good about, since it's apparently quite a bit cheaper than most places.
-Take silly risks like what I did with the banana. Won't win all the time, but maybe something will come up that will help you stretch your money a bit further than it was originally going to go. Don't gamble away money, of course, but if the opportunity arises to gain something without losing anything, at least try.
-Find ways to spend time with people without spending much money. Watching TV shows online is a pretty swell, free way to spend some quality time together.
-Keep an eye out for cheap all-you-can-eats like the Indian Restaurant that my friends took me to, if you're going to eat out.
-Lunchboxes and prepared foods seem to go on sale after 7PM, before the store closes, trying to get rid of stock. Half off, usually. It's a prime time to grab some dinner if you're in a rush.
That's all for this week, though.
Talk to you soon~
-RD
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