Kaimono o shitte, mado no katansu kaimashita
Today I did as promised, and went to the mall to buy window curtains (amongst other things). The short monorail ride was fun, the train was quite empty, and for some reason I never really looked out the window that carefully on my previous trips. Maybe it was dark, or maybe now I have my bearings, but it's really quite a view from 50 feet up. To the north one can see a range of mountains, and to the south are the skyscrapers of downtown Osaka. Spread out betwixt is a sea of residential and commercial areas. (I suppose that's a mixed metaphor. Perhaps a "jam" or "marmalade" of residential and commercial areas would work better.) Despite the close quarters, many houses have very nice gardens, with incredible topiary, although it's probably called something else 'round here. The houses themselves are normal houses, but distinctly Japanese. I don't have any pictures, though, so you'll have to take my word for it.
At the mall I found a Japanese version of Bed, Bath and Beyond meets Pier One. They had curtains which seemed to fit the bill. I also went back to Daiei, that excellent grocery store, which is in fact a department store. A common thing in Japan is for department stores to have grocery stores within them (and always on the first floor), although it's also increasingly common for Japanese department stores to suffer major financial difficulties. Maybe they need to focus on their core competencies. (Which, if you ask me, include their ruthlessly efficient check-out. And their omni-directional shopping carts. No stubborn wheels on those things, and they turn on a dime.) So, to make a long story short, I got some incredibly thrilling things at Daiei, including a dish drain, a clothesline, and clothes pins. (I have no dryer, but I do have a sizable balcony. It's probably half the size of my indoor living area.) And some batteries that are hopefully AAA.
The rest of the day I spent preparing for the SWG meeting. Tuesday afternoon I'm off on the bullet train for ISAS outside of Tokyo. There I'll meet up with my MIT cohorts for a few days, which should be nice.
At the mall I found a Japanese version of Bed, Bath and Beyond meets Pier One. They had curtains which seemed to fit the bill. I also went back to Daiei, that excellent grocery store, which is in fact a department store. A common thing in Japan is for department stores to have grocery stores within them (and always on the first floor), although it's also increasingly common for Japanese department stores to suffer major financial difficulties. Maybe they need to focus on their core competencies. (Which, if you ask me, include their ruthlessly efficient check-out. And their omni-directional shopping carts. No stubborn wheels on those things, and they turn on a dime.) So, to make a long story short, I got some incredibly thrilling things at Daiei, including a dish drain, a clothesline, and clothes pins. (I have no dryer, but I do have a sizable balcony. It's probably half the size of my indoor living area.) And some batteries that are hopefully AAA.
The rest of the day I spent preparing for the SWG meeting. Tuesday afternoon I'm off on the bullet train for ISAS outside of Tokyo. There I'll meet up with my MIT cohorts for a few days, which should be nice.
posted by Eric M. at 8:15 PM
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