Getting To Know The Neighborhood

It was so cool to go back to Shibuya. It's my favorite place in the whole world and now its only a twenty minute train ride from where I live. I went to my favorite spot in Starbucks overlooking hachiko square. Such a great feeling.

Aki and I decided which model of phone would be best for me. I said I wanted one that had a decent camera, web browsing, a 1-seg tv tuner, MP3 player, and a microSD card slot (for saving MP3s and pics). I was told that this describes almost every phone that they currently have on the market. So I just picked one that was cheap and looked fashionable.


Aki and I later went to a famiresu (family restaurant) and I had some pasta for dinner. Its gonna take me a while to readjust to the smaller portion sizes in Japan. ^_^


Thursday I was determined to find my way to walk to Kichijoji instead of taking the train there. I knew it was close to me but I just didn't know the way. Armed with the map I bought on that unfortunate night that I couldn't find my place, I found the route to Kichijoji is actually very short and easy. Just walk left of Inokashirakoen station, go over the bridge in Inokashira park, walk north to your first major street and turn left. Boom! You're in Kichijoji. The total walk from my place is about 15 minutes. And it's a pleasant walk, mostly the park and quiet residential areas.

In Kichijoji I met a new friend Mariko. She's going to Guam this weekend and since she is going to take the airport limousine bus from Kichijoji, she suggested we meet there before she leaves. So we went to a pasta restaurant and then later she took me around the neighborhood.

Kichijoji seems like part Shibuya, part Kensington Market. They have Maru and RonRon and HMV and lots of big-name stores, but also lots of side streets chock full of inpendent retailers and rare items. It's also just as lively and the stores are almost as crowded as Shibuya. When I make my way through the skinny lanes in the store, it reminds me just how big I really am. Maybe after living here for a while I'll become smaller (eating less food and moving around more can have that effect on people) :p


Mariko seemed a bit nervous when we first met, lots of nervous laughter. But she can speak English fairly well and my goofiness seemed to put her at ease. She said Kichijoji is her favorite drinking spot so she wants to take me drinking there sometime after she gets back.

Later I wandered around my immediate neighborhood, and I found the supermarket! If I don't start cooking my own meals I'm gonna go broke very fast, and the 7-eleven just doesn't have enough for me (can't live on tuna mayo buns forever). It's actually VERY close to my place, even closer than the 7-eleven. It's a small supermarket but I can get what I need there.