引越

Moving is never fun.

Whether it was in to college, out of college, back home, out of home, in to Japan--moving is not fun.　It's especially not fun when you have to bother your friends and making them nearly late for work while dragging the most ridiculous luggage case known to mankind.　To ☆子--thank you SO SO much again, and I'm so sorry for all the trouble I kept causing you and K m(__)m

The only positive thing to moving is knowing that there will be a new adventure in store. There's something oddly appealing about getting lost and prowling the local area like a cat.

There's also a giant supermarket, Itoyokado nearby along with a giant mall (Lala Port), IKEA and Costco. Everything is accessible by bus, and I'm looking forward to getting a bike to make it even more accessible whenever I want it to be.

Lala Port has anything you could possibly need, from another Itoyokado supermarket to clothes, to bikes, to etc etc. They also happen to have a fancy boulangerie with its cute (probably inedible) displays.

Even with these corporate retail giants though, we also found some great deals at small locally-owned grocers. We met Mr. Hideo Hasegawa, who owns a small and cozy grocery store. Not only was he friendly, but he was happy to give us tips about how to make 和食 (Japanese food). While we were chatting with him, he even introduced us to a matcha green tea powder produced in Kyoto and let us sample a cup.

Even though Ann Arbor also encouraged the joys of buying local, it's ironic that I crossed the globe before realizing how doing so is actually a really great experience. While we have shopped at hyper local grocers before, it was really out of price factors and not so much out of a desire to support the local community. After meeting Mr. Hasegawa, it's nice knowing that doing your good deed of shopping local is not only cheaper, but also more joyful.

I'm currently hunting for a bike at the moment and tried a bike today before realizing that it's ridiculously high and I seriously need to work on my bike maneuvering skills. When did turning left become so hard for someone who wasn't Derek Zoolander?? (Lame culture joke, but I still love that movie).

じゃ、また～