Toys!!!

I’m just a big kid at heart and I love toys.  I’m not a huge collector or anything, but I like to buy little things that jump out at me.  Japan is already rocking my world because I found two awesome things in the same day.  I’m just going to show you some of the toys I’ve gotten here.

When I first arrived in Japan in August, Pepsi and Medicom Toys were having a promotion where you get a 70% Star Wars-themed Bearbrick with the purchase of soda.  I didn’t see those things ANYWHERE because they sold out so quick.  I had mentioned it to a friend and he ended up scoring one for me that had been abandoned (or lost) by a kid at school.  The toys were keychains and this one doesn’t have a hook anymore, so I’m assuming that’s how it came to be lost:

One of the Fetts, I can never remember which. Don't kill me.

Then this past Saturday I was walking with a friend through the main shopping street, Center Gai, and we took a random detour and found a tiny little used-toy shop.  It looked like the owner just went around to garage sales buying all the little toys he could find and then re-selling them.  He had a heavy cache of stuff, but what really caught my eye was a 100% Bearbrick/Medicom toy from a Sesame Street series:

Remember Count? Ah ah ah!

You can see by the quarter that he’s just a bit bigger than the 70%.  He only cost me ¥380!  That’s about USD$3.50 or whatever.  The ultimate score that day, though, was found in the endless blocks of used clothing/toys/games/electronics/etc. stores we spent a good part of the day strolling through.  I have no idea how my eyes found it, but when I saw it, coupled with its ¥100 price tag, I KNEW I had to have them.  I did an eBay search and could not find these same metal binoculars anywhere!  Check it:

BEST BINOCULARS EVAR!!!

Favorite place to shop?

So being in Kobe I now have a disposable income.  I really never had that luxury in college, so I’m enjoying it while I can.  Kobe is known for its metropolitan atmosphere and fashion savvy… and also its bakeries, apparently; which would explain why nearly every other store downtown is a womens shop and about every fourth store is a bakery or parfait place – no lie.

Anyway, after being here a couple of months, I have realized what store I love to shop in most…. the Hyakuen! Hyaku En literally means 100yen and these stores are AWESOME!  My personal favorite chain is Daiso because sure, we have a few back home in the Bay Area, but for some reason, they don’t sell all the same stuff.  Daiso in America is a little more boring.

You can get so much stuff at a Hyakuen for so cheap!  Like, every element of home life exists in these places: plants and gardening, toys, food, pet supplies, stationary, home decorating, craft (knitting, sewing, crochet, etc.), cosmetics, etc. etc. etc.  A new Daiso just opened up near a train station one stop away from my neighborhood. I think everyone knows that’s pretty dangerous, haha!

I could waste so much time in there finding things I just realized I needed…

There are probably some “real” clothing stores I will come to love but for now, the Hyakuen is king.  I mean, I can buy 100% wool yarn for about 1 US dollar!  I worked in a fabric store and couldn’t even get a decent amount of acrylic for $1.  All you can get for a dollar back home is that weird eyelash crap that makes it look like you maimed and killed a muppet.

Anyway… yeah.

Barebones

I will update soon, I’ve been really tired lately, or not in the blogging state-of-mind if you understand.

Here’s a barebones update:

• My birthday was last Tuesday, it was pretty cool.  I went to Kyoto with my Ni-Nensei students (7th graders)
• I got a package in the mail from home, thanks Mom!
• I might not go home to visit in January as planned because my sister, her husband, and baby Gabby may be in Antigua for half the time I want to come home. My opinion: it’s almost pointless to come if the baby won’t be there. Almost.
• The temperature here is playfully dipping between winter colds and autumn warms on an almost daily basis.  I’m afraid for the winter that’s around the corner… my first one with snow.
• I’m getting along really well with my teachers and students.
• Some other JETs from San Francisco will be coming to visit next weekend.  I’m excited.
• I would have to take a paid day off to avoid working on Christmas.  I just might do it because that might be too hard for me to handle – working on Christmas, no family around, not being home, etc.

So… yeah. Hopefully I shall return soon.

Just Epic

I almost couldn’t believe Obama won.  Friends were saying before the election that he had it clinched but I felt that there could always be that surprise move or something like that.  I didn’t want to say he clinched it because I believed just a little that it might jinx his chances, but I held out hope.  And I was happily surprised when he made history.

I only wished I could have been back home so I could dance in the streets of San Francisco and the Bay Area and cry and celebrate with any and everyone who wanted.  I’m glad I could witness this historic event so early in my lifetime but still be old enough to actively participate by voting and really be able to understand and almost taste the weight of this issue for my country.

Obama has a lot of cleaning up to do, but he will definitely have a lot of help.  I love my President-elect.