Firsts
Ohayo-gozaimas!! Good morning to you all who happen to read this in the morning :) Happy April 1st! Still can't believe how time flies! Anyways, today I had a pretty busy day. I found my way to the post office to open up a bank account. This process was way easier than the city hall trip and less people involved. It was a little confusing first because the post office also serves as the bank...and it doesn't look as nearly as "locked up" as banks back home...by that I mean I didn't see a vault or anything. Well I successfully got my pass book which is basically my access card to my money here in Japan. Remember how I said everything in Japan is super cute? Well even my choice of passbook is super cute!!! Being that I am a sucker for cute things...Japan may be made for me (not so much my wallet lol)!!
After the bank, I walked over to the grocery store to get some things to COOK lunch. Yes guys, believe it, I, Theresa Tran, will be cooking edible food. HAH! For those who don't know, I don't have much cooking experience...like I said before, my strong points are grilled cheese sandwiches and boxe mac-n-cheese. So what was on the menu for today? I decided to do a noodle dish and followed some simple cooking things I do know. Being that veggies and fruits are pretty expensive, I was a bit limited in what I could afford. So I ended up walking out of the grocery store with olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, onions, carrots, a pack of soba noodles, salt, eggs, tofu and chicken flavoring cubes (they don't have chicken broth). As I got home, I decided to do something simple and something I know I could manage. First of all, I didn't have any meat products so even if my whole dish was under cooked, I wasn't going to get sick. I ended up sautéing onions, garlic, carrots and tofu with olive oil and soy sauce for taste then putting all that on my soba noodles. I also hard boiled an egg for extra protein. It wasn't bad to be honest! I think I need to some how make it saucier but it was edible and pretty good for me not really knowing how to cook :)
After lunch I was determined to get two things checked off: print out some things for work and buy a bike. Since I don't have a trusty smart phone to get me to and from where I need to be, I had to do things the old fashion way. I memorized and pictured in my mind where I needed to go and set out for it. This time I walked further than what I usually would walk and saw some amazing cherry blossoms along the way! Its crazy how cherry blossoms are just everywhere in Japan. I had to stop and snap some photos. I think these are my new favorite trees :)
The first stop, the internet shop was not where online said it was. That was a bummer but instead I walked into a 2nd hand shop. How perfect! I love thrift stores! I wish I had found this shop prior to buying those things at the mall the day earlier. But being that I saw so many cute things for cheap, I had to get some things. So I ended up walking out of the store with 2 glass cups, a mug, a big bowl+soup spoon set, some things for packing my lunch, and a cloth Hello Kitty lunch bag all for about 1,200 yen! Damn that was awesome. After the thrift store I set out to find Hard-Off, another resale shop. I was determined to find a used bike but when I got there all I found were brand new bikes for outside what I wanted to spend (no more than $100 usd). So I walked around the store to get an idea of what was there then headed back home to empty my bag and look at my map for the other shops.
By this time it was already 5:30pm but I wanted to get a bike and the recommended hard ware store (Konan Home Center) was a walk but I was determined!! Konan was opposite of where I usually go, but again, I drew myself a map and headed out. The walk was a good 20-30 minutes and the sun was going down and the sidewalk getting more narrow but I already had walked so far so I just kept going. Thankfully I found the place and when I did it was huge! They had SO much stuff in there I really wanted to look around but being that I came for a bike, and the thought of leaving without one and having to walk all the way back was not pleasant, I went straight to the bike section. All the bikes were new, nothing used and all ranged from 8,000 to 17,000 yen. Honestly I just wanted a used bike for less than 10,000 but kept circling the bike section trying to figure "to get one now even though out of my price range but I would then have a bike" or "wait and see if anything used eventually comes up but be bike-less for God knows how long." I went with my first option and decided on this green and brown bike with a basket.
I wasn't really sure how to purchase it, do I get a number or do I take the bike straight to the front? I found a young man stocking some shelves and he ended up being really useful! I figured go for the younger ones because chances are they have learned English more recent than the adults have. He successfully help me get permission to test drive the bike in the store before purchasing and also helped with the whole registering and understanding part. His English was pretty spotty but the effort meant the world to me. It was a little past 7 when I left the store and already dark out. I walked my new bike halfway home because of the small side walk. But when I did get to ride it, it was amazing! I don't really get to ride bikes back home so this new change would be an awesome one!
On the way home I passed by a Daiso store which I heard has many things for cheap. Being that I already spent alot on this day, I figured I would come back tomorrow for new finds on my new bike! It was dark by the time I pulled up to my apartment so I will be taking pictures of the new whip tomorrow. Stay tuned for that!!
xxx
After the bank, I walked over to the grocery store to get some things to COOK lunch. Yes guys, believe it, I, Theresa Tran, will be cooking edible food. HAH! For those who don't know, I don't have much cooking experience...like I said before, my strong points are grilled cheese sandwiches and boxe mac-n-cheese. So what was on the menu for today? I decided to do a noodle dish and followed some simple cooking things I do know. Being that veggies and fruits are pretty expensive, I was a bit limited in what I could afford. So I ended up walking out of the grocery store with olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, onions, carrots, a pack of soba noodles, salt, eggs, tofu and chicken flavoring cubes (they don't have chicken broth). As I got home, I decided to do something simple and something I know I could manage. First of all, I didn't have any meat products so even if my whole dish was under cooked, I wasn't going to get sick. I ended up sautéing onions, garlic, carrots and tofu with olive oil and soy sauce for taste then putting all that on my soba noodles. I also hard boiled an egg for extra protein. It wasn't bad to be honest! I think I need to some how make it saucier but it was edible and pretty good for me not really knowing how to cook :)
After lunch I was determined to get two things checked off: print out some things for work and buy a bike. Since I don't have a trusty smart phone to get me to and from where I need to be, I had to do things the old fashion way. I memorized and pictured in my mind where I needed to go and set out for it. This time I walked further than what I usually would walk and saw some amazing cherry blossoms along the way! Its crazy how cherry blossoms are just everywhere in Japan. I had to stop and snap some photos. I think these are my new favorite trees :)
The first stop, the internet shop was not where online said it was. That was a bummer but instead I walked into a 2nd hand shop. How perfect! I love thrift stores! I wish I had found this shop prior to buying those things at the mall the day earlier. But being that I saw so many cute things for cheap, I had to get some things. So I ended up walking out of the store with 2 glass cups, a mug, a big bowl+soup spoon set, some things for packing my lunch, and a cloth Hello Kitty lunch bag all for about 1,200 yen! Damn that was awesome. After the thrift store I set out to find Hard-Off, another resale shop. I was determined to find a used bike but when I got there all I found were brand new bikes for outside what I wanted to spend (no more than $100 usd). So I walked around the store to get an idea of what was there then headed back home to empty my bag and look at my map for the other shops.
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| Mt. Miminashi in the back during my walk |
By this time it was already 5:30pm but I wanted to get a bike and the recommended hard ware store (Konan Home Center) was a walk but I was determined!! Konan was opposite of where I usually go, but again, I drew myself a map and headed out. The walk was a good 20-30 minutes and the sun was going down and the sidewalk getting more narrow but I already had walked so far so I just kept going. Thankfully I found the place and when I did it was huge! They had SO much stuff in there I really wanted to look around but being that I came for a bike, and the thought of leaving without one and having to walk all the way back was not pleasant, I went straight to the bike section. All the bikes were new, nothing used and all ranged from 8,000 to 17,000 yen. Honestly I just wanted a used bike for less than 10,000 but kept circling the bike section trying to figure "to get one now even though out of my price range but I would then have a bike" or "wait and see if anything used eventually comes up but be bike-less for God knows how long." I went with my first option and decided on this green and brown bike with a basket.
I wasn't really sure how to purchase it, do I get a number or do I take the bike straight to the front? I found a young man stocking some shelves and he ended up being really useful! I figured go for the younger ones because chances are they have learned English more recent than the adults have. He successfully help me get permission to test drive the bike in the store before purchasing and also helped with the whole registering and understanding part. His English was pretty spotty but the effort meant the world to me. It was a little past 7 when I left the store and already dark out. I walked my new bike halfway home because of the small side walk. But when I did get to ride it, it was amazing! I don't really get to ride bikes back home so this new change would be an awesome one!
On the way home I passed by a Daiso store which I heard has many things for cheap. Being that I already spent alot on this day, I figured I would come back tomorrow for new finds on my new bike! It was dark by the time I pulled up to my apartment so I will be taking pictures of the new whip tomorrow. Stay tuned for that!!
xxx
Take a picture of your ride! And hopefully people don't jack your bike! Make sure you have a lock of some sort.
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