Sunday, 2 April 2006

This morning I was rudely awoken by the phone ringing. It’s pretty disorientating to wake up with no idea where you are, realize that the phone is ringing and then realize that you’ve got to get down the damn ladder before the phone stops ringing (because I can’t figure out the answering machine). So, if you phone me here in Japan and I don’t answer, please call again in case I just haven’t made it down the ladder in time.

It was a bit cooler than Saturday so I watched a movie while wrapped up in a blanket on the couch. Then I went for a walk around my neighbourhood. I found my way around the block ok which is harder than you might think because there are so many little alleys that all look the same that it’s easy to get lost. I saw a Beagle, a tabby cat, a Shibu Inu and a puppy of indeterminate breed. Then I walked down the main road about ten minutes and went to a big shop that is like the bastard child of K Mart and Bunnings. They have a little garden centre out the front so I wasn’t sure how to get in the damn shop. After lurking in the carpark for a minute or two, I followed some people to where the entrance was. My mission was to secure coat hangers and a pair of slippers. I wandered about for a couple of minutes then I heard a dog barking and found that they had a pet section! There was a little Corgi and a Maltese cross and a Dachshund and a bunch of miscellaneous kittens which were exceedingly cute.

But I had a task to complete so I tore myself away from the little furry ones and went in search of the coat hangers. I got sidetracked briefly by some lovely little lacquered bowls that are perfect for miso but eventually found the coat hangers I needed. Now slippers - a search which was to prove ultimately disappointing. They only had slippers with the covered toe, none that actually had a back to them so they probably wouldn’t actually keep my feet that warm. And seeing it was 13 degrees this morning in the lounge room, I think I need slippers that keep my feet warm. I successfully negotiated the cashier and even counted out the right change and got rid of all my 10 yen coins with a minimum fuss.

On my way home I noticed a shop on the other side of the road that looked like it might sell slippers but I couldn’t figure out how to press the button to get a walk signal to cross the road so slippers will have to wait to another day.

I got home just as it started to rain and had salmon sashimi and miso soup for lunch while watching Walk the Line.

I also experienced my first Japanese earthquake at about 9pm. It was only tiny and if I hadn’t been watching a dvd, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.