day 4: byebye tokyo, hello shinagawa
Got to sleep in (abit) today…One thing about holidaying is that I just can’t wake up late. There are always things to do and so little time…
Wandered about shinagawa, since we had a bus to catch at 3pm. Went to a convenience store, and nii-chan found some chocopan with ken-chan from yakitate!! XD it was pretty funny. Didn’t think that I’d find it. Or rather, it was uncalled for. The breeze was cooling today, unlike the previous days, which was a good thing.
Ooooh~~! We finally had the chance to eat some real sushi for lunch. XD Funny how we didn’t have it earlier, but better late than never. It was in a little shop on the 2nd floor. Quaint, clean and neat place with good sushi. XD Back at home, salmon sushi was commonplace, but here it seems everything else is here! Everything else but salmon, that is. Maybe cause it’s expensive. Had chirashi-zushi (sashimi on a bowl of sticky sweetish rice) and they had the pink sprinklies which are sweet and crispy. I used to really hate it because of the sweetness, but I guess I got used to it. And and and! They’ve got super neat toilets! The cover automatically goes up when someone’s near the toilet seat. And you don’t pull or push levers, you push buttons to flush. And and you get to press another button and the seat lid lifts up! All this in a small sushi shop in shinagawa (Quad S XD)
The bus ride to narita was more like an afternoon nap session. Nothing much to see, until we actually entered narita town. It’s a lot like the suburbs you see in animes, narrow streets, squashy shops, students, and even the junctions…seems like a sleepy-ish town, but with a lot of foreigners (most probably flight crew since the airport is only 20-30 minutes away) lounging about the hotels, things are probably different. I wouldn’t know.
Spent the rest of the day at Jusco (or more known as Aeon) purely out of curiosity. Took a bus there, and if you recall, I did mention that the bus services are accurate down to the minute, which still amazes me. XD Aeon is definitely different from the ones at home, as it doesn’t just serve as a supermarket; it’s like a departmental store with all the branded goods and this you cannot tell from just glancing at the building… The Aeon in narita is built like an American Wal-Mart (I think so) with adequate carpark lots that stretches for a good bit. Definitely better stocked, and its shops sell quality stuff too.
And never ever EVER underestimate their food courts. XD The system is waay different here; after ordering and paying, you don’t need to wait at the counter while they get your meal ready. They’ll give you a pager-like device, which will beep to tell you that you can go and collect your meal. Quite a nifty trick I’d say =D And to make things easier for everyone, you send over your dirty dishes to a special counter.
After dinner, while strolling around, first thing I spotted was the music store. Wave is big, but I didn’t get to buy any maaya albums. Probably cause her last album was aeons ago anyway. Too bad.
Pocky is cheaper here too XP at ¥148 per pack… And anpan! And sake too! We stopped by the supermarket to buy some cakes for ah ee and family as a present from narita, since they’re reputed to be quite good. And of course we bought a box for ourselves XD after I pestered them to. XD They look so yummmy~ And like most things Japanese, the packaging was really pleasing to look at and also easy to carry around. I love their packaging and the fact that they place a lot of importance of it. I love that. =D We also bought some sake in a glass (I forgot if it was ume sake, but seeing how it was sweetish which kind of reminded me of drinking wine)
On the bus trip back, I chanced on people celebrating bon odori in a field nearby, but pretty hidden. Aih. Had I known, I would have gone for sure XP
