Amber in Japan: Chapter 4

So today started a new allowance day. Thank God because JAY'ED's new CD is out and I want it! After cooking pancakes and saying Sayonara to my roommate until late Sunday night (she is going to Nagoya to see her friend and I have the room to myself), I started my adventure.

The day when Joey and I took our little (well, not so little) night time walk to what ended up being Kuzuha, I found a Book-Off. Book-Off is used CDs, DVDs, Manga, etc, very cheap and very awesome! I remember seeing Book-Off that night (twice so on the way there and on the way back) and saying I need to come back and visit. Each Book-Off has it's own selection and some carry more stuff than others like clothes and purses (I particularly love the used purse section). It seemed to be two stories high and sitting at an intersection corner.

Today, I decided I would walk to the post office in Makino, get money, stop at Sanko on the way back and get needed groceries (Sanko has good sales Tuesdays because they are closed Wednesday so I didn't want to buy too much), drop it off at the dorm then head to Book-Off and Tsutaya (I saw a sign for Tsutaya that night too).

After accomplishing the bank and Sanko trip, I put the groceries away and headed out. I start walking pretty confident the Book-Off is no more than 20 minutes away. So I walk.... and found myself at a familiar intersection. I realized then this is an intersection I go through to go to Makino, where Joey and I were trying to go that night. We missed a turn... second intersection, turn left. ANYHOW I continue to walk... and walk............. and walk... and I find the "TSUTAYA THIS WAY" sign. I'm thinking it can't be far from the Tsutaya. So I keep walking... and walking......... and I'm at the place where Joey and I turned. I think here it can't be much further.

So I turn.... and walk......... and walk...................... after walking for some time I start thinking I imagined the Book-Off when I see "BUY SELL BOOKS DVDS CDS" (in Japanese of course) and I get excited!!! I FOUND IT!!! ....wait, this isn't Book-Off. So I decide to pass up this place and keep walking straight. By this time I have walked to Kuzuha... again. I give up on this direction and decide to hit up the Book-Off wannabe store. I go there and it's nice but I couldn't find anything used (they had new as well) that I wanted, and really wanted to go to Book-Off. So I come out and think... he we turned down this road and walked... maybe I found it down this way.

So I walk......... and walk.... and OH FAMILY MART LUNCH! I stop and get a drink and spicy chicken for lunch. At this point I'm pretty content with my food and decided to give up on the Book-Off. I'm not sure what happened to the Book-Off, so readers choose for yourself...

1) I did not go far enough
2) I imagined a Book-Off, twice, that night
3) I confused the wanna-be shop with Book-Off that night
4) I am blond and passed it, twice, today
5) It was there but was replaced with the wanna-ba store

I was actually thinking 3, but that store doesn't look like the one I remembered. I will have to look up the locations for Book-Off and see (which I coulda swore I did before).

So I walk back deciding to just hit up Tsutaya. My CD is pretty new so I'm sure it would not be in Book-Off anyways. But I really want Aoyama Thelma "LOVE" with the DVD. So I start walking back to find the Tsutaya. I think I am lost as I am walking and it has disappeared too (and I am thinking "just watch, Amber, you are going to find the Book-Off after searching for over an hour"... that didn't happen though thank goodness). I eventually do find the sign "TSUTAYA THIS WAY" and start walking that way. I feel like I'm on a road where I will find a Wal-Mart... then I think "Amber, you are silly, there is no Wal-Marts in Japan."

I DO FIND THE TSUTAYA! Good, because I wasn't walking for my health! I walk in and my jaw drops... this Tsutaya has an awesome book selection :D I've been looking for a book store so I can buy an Intermediate Japanese book and part 2 to my Kanji book from Sophia. Unfortunately, the selection wasn't THAT good ;_; BUT! I do find Angels and Demons! IN JAPANESE! AND TINY! So I am looking at it awe and see the price.... like 590 yen... so cheap. Then realize it is in 3 parts so multiply it by 3 and it's about 1800 yen for the full story. But I am still happy. I love this book. So I get part 1. I may or may not read it, and may not finish it if I try... but it is awesome to have. And I get my JAY'ED CD.

So in the end, mission accomplished. But the mystery still lingers... what happened to the Book-Off!?!?!!?

My purchases

So last night I went to the Aoyama Thelma concert.

Air and I took the 4:15 purple express train to the venue. We arrive about 30 minutes later (YAY FOR PURPLE EXPRESS!) We were able to get in line early. While waiting these girls came around and told us that Thelma's birthday is in 2 days and we can write her a birthday message in a notebook they had. Because I know the singer is fluent in Japanese and English, I wrote in English because 1) I can't write happy bday in kanji and didn't want to take the time to look it up, and 2) my English would stand out amongst the Japanese messages.

Sadly, pictures and video was not aloud :( Because I was with my speaking partner's younger sister who did not want me to break the rules and we were seated in a spot that I could easily be caught, I didn't get pics... BUT AIR DID!

There is one. The concert was awesome. I dance, sang, cried, and we sang Happy Birthday to her at the end when the crew surprised her with a cake and present. They took a pic of her with the audience in the back and it is suppose to be put on her blog, so I'll try to get it and we can play Where's Waldo with me :D

Here are some youtube videos of her if anyone is interested. It is Pop/R&B. She has to be one of my favorite singers of all time.

"Soba ni Iru ne" Guinness World Record song for most downloads via Japanese Cell Phone

"Wanna Come Again" One of her newer songs

Fantastic Concert :) Happy Birthday Aoyama Thelma!