From Pennies To Yennies

Dan and I had a great weekend together despite the craziness of Friday the 11th- his birthday, our mini celebration of dating for 2 years, and of course the big earthquake (which we’ve dubbed, “the birthquake”).

On Saturday Dan and I decided to knock some items off our to-do list: stock the fridge and organize the apartment. That decided, we were off to Saitama for Ikea and Costco!

This is definitely the biggest trip I’ve made in Japan so far as a resident. We train for 20-25 minutes to Shinjuku, then train another 20 to Musashiurawa, then another 30 min to arrive in Saitama. Because of the earthquake the trains were off, which meant a lot of waiting between rides.

We finally arrived very hungry. We walked over to Costco where pigging out ensued:

Glorious Costco menu

Yes! My favorite soda in the world; I delight in the crisp and fruity liquid goodness that is Lemon Fanta. Currently only sold in Europe, and at this one Costco in Japan (as far as I’ve seen).

I had a giant hot dog and Dan had a giant slice of pizza. Yum.

After our pigout, we decided to take care of furniture stuff first since all that could be delivered, and we weren’t sure if our refrigerated groceries could be, and didn’t want to carry them around. So we walked a couple blocks over to Ikea.

Sadly they were closed due to the earthquake. So we walked back to Costco, passing a closed shopping mall on the way. Once in Costco we shopped for all the delicious things we needed… and wanted.

28,500 yen (roughly $330 I suppose?) later we headed to the delivery department to see what they could deliver to our apartment. Turns out they could take everything for only 2000 yen ($25)! Well, everything except a take-n-bake pizza, a little box of cookies and a pack of muffins.

Delivery Dept

Dan filling out address forms for our grocery boxes

Having turned into a day-long endeavor we headed home. Our train got stuck at one point for a half hour, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. Luckily we were able to sit 2 out of 3 legs home, since we had some groceries to carry.

This morning (Sunday) we woke up with no plans for the day. Dan and I decided to run out to Akihabara, Tokyo. We were on a mission- I was going to find a case for my Droid Desire phone (haven’t been having any luck in our neck of the woods), and Dan was going to meet up with his friend Brent to sell some playing cards. At some point all three of us would have a lunch so delicious, I will give it its own Food Adventure entry 🙂

We rode out to Shinjuku, then to Akihabara, traveling for about 35 minutes. For those unfamiliar with the area, Akihabara is somewhat of Geek Haven- it is a town well known for selling electronics, many arcades, anime shops and all sorts of card/hobby shops. It’s a very “techy” part of town.

Dan and I popped in a couple shops until we finally found one that had a case for my phone. Made that purchase and then met up with Brent for lunch.

After lunch we stopped in a hobby shop where the boys looked at some playing cards for a game called Magic the Gathering. We parted ways with Brent and headed home.

On our way home we found a juice stand we had never seen before. Now, I love pulpy juice. I joke to folks that “I love a juice I can chew”. This stand offered the pulpiest juice i had ever tasted, it was so delicious. Dan and I got a raspberry lemonade.

We returned home for a lazy evening. Cleaned up the apartment, made dinner, caught up on some shows. Due to some scheduled power outages tomorrow throughout Tokyo, Dan doesn’t have to go into work! No plans for our Monday yet 🙂