12.16.2010 First bike trip and Aeon Mall in Osaka

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I woke up and was immediately ready to go for the day. Kaori and I didn’t have any plans but I did want to get some things and sights see more than just the house. After breakfast with the Midori we all took off to Osaka Aeon mall. I grabbed my coat and I bolted out of the door to the bikes which were in fact in front of the house. I was taught about the locks on the bike which are small little loops that are on every bike. I finished my locking lesson and biked for a second to get use to it. I felt kind of like a child until I got out of the area. I WAS OVERWHELDMED BY BIKERS!!! This was a completely different biking experience than going on any American bike ride through the cities. Everyone is so close to one another and people come within inches of hitting you at every angle! I felt like every second I would crash or hit someone, so I was playing it cool and slow while following Kaori to the mall. While riding past all the houses and small local businesses it almost felt like I was watching a movie rather than it being myself riding the bike. I wanted to record it all but I have no way of doing that, yet.

We arrived at the mall after some close calls and there are “bike racks” that hold your bike for a four hours but after that you have to pay a toll to get out. While walking into the mall, I was told not to record video and not to act so “excited”, since it’s just the mall. We made our way to the food court after Kaori mentioned “Onaka suita”, which means “I’m hungry” in Japanese. While walking through I saw a place called Mister Donuts and was told it’s kind of like Krispy Kreme in America. We grabbed four glazed and filled donuts, two churros, and two coffees for around ¥1100 (about $11). The donuts were very good and they didn’t have that deep fried heavy flavor. When we finished I walked to the trash and I noticed that there were several different bins for trash and recycling, in fact there is a specific trash just for liquids. Kaori needed to grab some cloths for the upcoming temple visit on Sunday so we were able to walk through the mall and check out some of the stores. I got to snap some shots and go into on store called Joshin that had an amazing selection of every electronic item. It felt kind of like Best Buy, except it was red instead for blue, and there were more items to choose from. While walking through the store Kaori pointed out some interesting items. First, she pointed out some of the “ovens” or microwave ovens that were available in the store; which were extremely expensive and small. One of them was only big enough to grill my hand if I could fit it on there. We walked through the rice cooker section and I noticed one rice cooker made from bronze that was only ¥97800 ($978), marked down from ¥108000; what a bargain! Japanese washing machine are also pretty interesting since some both wash and dry in the same machine. There were other things that baffled me, however I knew Kaori needed to get her items so we ran out and went to a very popular store called uniqlo. I loved this store; it has a large array of clothing items at great prices for anyone. I was able to grab a long sleeve “heattec” shirt, which is kind of like under armor, for around ¥1500. Later on while walking though the mall to go home we passed a section that sold small backpacks that all elementary students had to purchase for school. I had to try one on so of course I did and grabbed a snap shot. I needed to get a pillow for bed so we needed to go to another store. Of course I was nervous for biking but we needed to; so I reluctantly got on the bike and we made our way to another store. By this time it was night and the makes seeing people 20 times harder since no one turns their bike lights on. All bikes have a light on them, but no one uses them! I was completely unprepared for biking in Japan. We got to the store and of course they did not have any pillows since they were “moving” to another location! I felt frustrated, but Kaori convinced me that it better learn about biking now rather than later at school. Kaori and I then had to go back to the AEON mall to find a pillow. We arrived, we grabbed the pillow, and we left the mall to go home. On the ride home I thought for sure I had been on a five hour bike ride, however only two and a half hours had passed since we left.

At home we had another great meal and had some fun stories to share with Kaori’s dad and with Midori after she came home from work. It’s tough getting used to seeing all the TV channels in Japanese so I thought I would pop online and check out Hulu for some American shows. There was only one problem Hulu and most of the other channels that I used to watch in the US do not work internationally!

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