Yesterday, we went to Sugamo - the so-called "grey ghetto" which is supposed to be a sort of mecca for people over 60.
Happily my mother was drawn to every clothes shop there and pointed out the retro cafes and enka CD shops that lined the main shopping street, Jizoudoori. We saw some Buddhist shrines/statues, an outdoor performance of some sort of Japanese folktales, and a chrysanthemum ikebana contest, and the shopping stalls nearby were glorious. There's so much selection in Japan for clothes, bags, accessories, etc. that you feel like you own something unique - in Perth there's so little choice that you double up with other people a lot - same shirt, bag, etc. The prices were so much better, too. We bought some 100 yen toe-less socks and these finger-puppet gloves (for a second cousin).
The famed red undies that give their wearers energy were there, which I didn't buy as they too were for the over-60 bracket. Also I went into a McDonald's to see if it was true that the
meal sizes were written in kanji...but they weren't. Disappoint. D:
We also went to the Electric Town in Akihabara to buy a transformer for my laptop.
The first guy we found said "Nuhh it should work without one! Everyone else will say the same thing!" but the second guy, an old man wearing a Chinese name tag tucked away in a little stall who was some kind of transformer guru, tested out one of his step-ups with my laptop and it charged! I semi-dropped it on the way home but thankfully it worked. It feels about as heavy as a gold bar.
omg i wanna see the energizing fundoshi XD
ReplyDeletewisened old Chinese man knows all, young grasshopper.
xD Aw, they were panties. But they must have red fundoshi somewhere! And YAY, the comments work at last!
ReplyDeleteIS THAT MOMOTARO OMG IT IS HIM
ReplyDeleteHow do they energise you? The panties, I mean. Do they contain caffeine?
ReplyDeleteThe power of those little buddhas I saw everywhere, I presume. Speaking of ginseng though, you're lucky you don't have access to the convenience stores here because you'd become such a vitamin/energy/health drink junkie (even more so!). The variety here of little energizing bottles is insaaaane. There's one called Ukon no Chikara which I keep misreading as Unko no Chikara.
ReplyDeleteWhen I come to Japan I will be sure to stock up heartily on these energy drinks of which you speak. It is my personal goal to drink every type of energy drink in the world.
ReplyDelete