Monday, January 14, 2008

Today is a Holiday

Today Chris had the day off from work. It is Japan's "Coming of Age" day. We spent a bit of today doing laundry--much needed--and then took a train to the Motomachi district in Yokohama. Motomachi is a locally famous area where there are a couple of long streets of clothing and other stores. We bought some pastries in a local Pompadour (chain of bread shops all over Yokohama) and some hot cocoa, then headed out into the cold to window shop.

Motomachi shopping district

Train Station

One thing that is not lacking here is the amount of shopping available. There are TONS and tons of shopping malls, stores, etc.. I have never been anywhere in the U.S. where there was as much shopping as there is available here (including New York and San Francisco) and we have seen only a fraction of Yokohama. I am told there is even more shopping places in Tokyo. I am not a big shopper myself, but it is interesting to see how these stores differ from the U.S.. One thing that I have always wanted is to go into one clothing store and like almost everything in the store (I am very choosy when it comes to clothing)--I haven't found that place in the U.S.. But here, I have passed by numerous clothing stores where all the clothing looks really good. Granted I don't need anything right now, and I am not about to spend lots of money on clothes, but knowing it is there when I need it, and I don't have to go hunting through lots of stores to find something I like is a good feeling.

We have recently found the local 100 Yen store! (This store is equivalent to the U.S. $1 dollar store.) This store has been great for us to get some of the basics we need (e.g. trash bags, hangers, dish soap, etc). The 100 Yen stores are actually much better quality than those in the U.S. and they contain a much bigger variety of items (e.g. gardening, kitchen, art supplies, tools, etc). Thank you April and Yu-Ping for letting me know about these 100 Yen stores!

Well, Chris looks like he just about fell asleep on the chair next to me :)