A Big Shopping Trip...Of Sorts

My big shopping trip, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

First off... I've noticed a pattern of sorts with the precipitation here: It usually falls heavily in the morning and then lets off in the afternoon. That isn't always the case but it happens enough to make it worth one's while to sit out the morning rainfall and then head out in the afternoon.

So I didn't get out and about today until after I had lunch. First I picked up a few items to fill out a package I'm going to ship home. Then I looked, unsuccessfully for brown kraft paper to cover the box. I guess I'll just send it without that detail. One thing I picked up along the way, well, two actually, are a couple of packages of Kit-Kats which have "Otoshidama" envelopes attached to the packaging. "Otoshidama" are the Japanese version of the famous red envelopes which are used to distribute money to the little ones. I also tried to find a pair of boots but didn't come across any I liked.

After I got home I changed into clothes suitable for bicycling and headed out once more. At the bike parking area I met my co-worker Michael. I told him what my plans were and he mentioned a couple of shops which sold boots. One is called "Workplace" or "Workman" and is on the way from our place up to city hall. The other place he recommended is called Shoe Plaza and he said it was quite far off. I told him I was planning on heading up to Uniqlo. Turns out that Shoe Plaza is almost next door to there. He also mentioned that Yamaya, a liquour store with some imported foodstuffs, was next to Uniqlo and was worth checking out. So off I went.

The second I walked into Uniqlo I tossed a pair of gloves into my shopping basket. I've only brought a pair of leather gloves from Canada so I wanted something else less fancy. Next I came across some nice lined water resistant jackets. But they were kind of pricy at ¥9800 or so. On a rack around the corner I came across similar but not as heavy jackets for about ¥5600. Next I picked up a flannel shirt, pair of winter socks and a fleece sweater. That all added up to more than ¥11,000. I managed to squeeze that all into my backpack.

I suppose I was a man on a mission when I walked into Shoe Plaza. I quickly found the corner for men's boots and started pricing them out. The tall ones which come up to under your knees generally run about ¥4200 and up. My buddy James had suggested that I not pay more than ¥3000 but the ones in that price range weren't all that great fitting and the treads didn't look all that hot. Anyways, I bought a pair of boots for about ¥4500 and managed to squeeze that purchase into my backpack.

The last stop was Yamaya. That's where I picked up the made in America pasta sauce, made in Malaysia curry sauce and the Japanese micro-brew pale ales. I saw that they had cheese but balked at buying any after looking at the prices. ¥398 for 150g of French Brie. I told Michael that it was a bit dear and he commented that he's probably been here too long. To him that price was reasonable. He once picked up some Stilton for another co-worker for ¥1500. Ouch.

So there you have it. The genesis and execution of my "shopping spree". If my finances look good near the end of the month then I'll probably get myself measured for a "winter suit". That's a suit, made to measure, with a bit heavier lining in the jacket and thicker material for the slacks. Unlike Canada, made to measure suits are reasonably inexpensive. Suits are still pretty well de rigueur in a lot of company offices here so there's a bigger market to serve.

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Random thoughts and observations:
1) The signal stop line often isn't right up close to the cross walk. Often it's about two car lengths back. The reason for that is simple: the streets are generally narrow, the corners tight and thus they have to figure in the extra space necessary to allow large vehicles to be able to make a left turn. I watched a JR bus today take a corner and just barely squeeze past a car stopped 2-3 car lengths from the intersection.
2) In Canada the post office used to make it a policy not to feature any living person on their stamps other than the living monarch. That has changed in the past few years. In Japan that policy obviously isn't in place. They're taking orders for AKB48 premium edition stamps. These are not cheap things at ¥5700 a pop (the sets contain two sheets of ten ¥50 stamps). What is AKB48? They're basically a conglomerate of 48 idol singers (all female) arranged into 3 teams of 16 girls each. Each team corresponding to the letters in the group's name. Plus I've read that there are sub-teams associated with the numbers. Yup. Marketing is a wonderful thing.
3) Getting a driver's licence in Japan is not an inexpensive process. A friend says that Japanese ex-pats will come back to Japan for the purpose of renewing their licences. Otherwise one could be looking at paying up to the equivalent of $3000 in driver training to get a new licence.