Off to the Movies
Last night my husband and I got a babysitter and went out for the evening at America Town in Chatan-cho. We have been there a million times before. It's not so much like being back in the states as it is a central area for everyone to come hang out. On the East side there are tons of little shops, eateries, arcades and a Starbucks. We ate at this one tiny restaurant that makes fried rice or yakisoba and shrimp, squid, pork or beef wrapped in an omelet drizzled with a sweet soy based sauce and mayo for about 600 yen. Their food is great and their portions are huge. In that same building was a massage store where you could get 15 minute to 1 hour massages for a minimal price. I personally can't stand Japanese massages because they are too rough and I don't have the vocabulary to say Ouch, stop that doesn't feel good and isn't the slightest nit relaxing. Instead when you say Ouch, the masseur giggles and hands you a paper written in Engrish saying how massages are SUPPOSED to hurt and will hurt the first few times you have one until your body gets used to it. Screw that! I told my husband I wouldn't mind waiting while he got one but he wanted to check out some other shops on the other side of the street.
There is a department store on the west side called Jusco. I don't go in there too much because my big American feet are too big for the shoes and my big American butt and height don't allow me to fit into too many Japanese-labeled clothes. Behind Jusco is a huge cinema with 7 theaters boating both Japanese and American movies. We saw Man on Fire with Denzel Washington. It was a great movie but I had difficulty with the Spanish dialogue because the captions were in Japanese. Luckily it wasn't hard to get the gist of what was going on because of the plot and the English context surrounding it. The fare at the popcorn stand was only slightly different than an American theatre. There was lots of popcorn but it was dry and only slightly flavored just like all other Japanese deserts, like less is more. There was also caramel popcorn, nachos, hot dogs and pancakes. Yes, pancakes....not just for breakfast in Japan. They served Coca-Cola, iced sweet tea, oolong tea and grape soda. Inside of the theatre was a little creepy. The seats are built for Japanese for sure. They were very, very low and very narrow. I'm 150 pounds and I felt very uncomfortable. There was some spare room but not enough to be comfortable. It was also very silent. In American theatres there is always muffled talking before the show but none last night. Dead silence! There were also no laughs, sighs or yelps during the movie. When the movie was finished, I grabbed my trash and walked outside. Right outside the door was a cool contraption that looked like a large trash bin with a metal sink and drain to dump your soda into. Then you just trash your cup in the garbage can next to the "sink" can. The small differences still keep my attention and I still see something new every day. It's not always very interesting but it opens your eyes a little.
After the movie we went behind the theatre to do a little shopping at one of our favorite stores. I don't know the name because I couldn't read the Kanji but it is across the street and directly behind the theatre on the first floor. It is like a World Market shop filled with clothing, accessories, furniture and musical instruments from India, Africa and Australia. I bought a tiny Indian jewelry holder made with pink transparent stones and clear rhinestones, a hand-made shawl and a sleeveless dress shirt made here in Japan and two pillows made from India. One for my butt while flying that old-assed Cessna and the other just to lounge around on. My husband bought a longer log-shaped pillow for the couch and an Australian Didgeridoo. After dropping over $170 in that shop alone we quickly retreated to our car, partly because of buyers remorse and partly because it was about 50 degrees outside for the first time this winter. Actually I don't think it has been that cold since I've been here. It was exhilarating and we were both wishing for snow even though it will never get that cold here.
There is a department store on the west side called Jusco. I don't go in there too much because my big American feet are too big for the shoes and my big American butt and height don't allow me to fit into too many Japanese-labeled clothes. Behind Jusco is a huge cinema with 7 theaters boating both Japanese and American movies. We saw Man on Fire with Denzel Washington. It was a great movie but I had difficulty with the Spanish dialogue because the captions were in Japanese. Luckily it wasn't hard to get the gist of what was going on because of the plot and the English context surrounding it. The fare at the popcorn stand was only slightly different than an American theatre. There was lots of popcorn but it was dry and only slightly flavored just like all other Japanese deserts, like less is more. There was also caramel popcorn, nachos, hot dogs and pancakes. Yes, pancakes....not just for breakfast in Japan. They served Coca-Cola, iced sweet tea, oolong tea and grape soda. Inside of the theatre was a little creepy. The seats are built for Japanese for sure. They were very, very low and very narrow. I'm 150 pounds and I felt very uncomfortable. There was some spare room but not enough to be comfortable. It was also very silent. In American theatres there is always muffled talking before the show but none last night. Dead silence! There were also no laughs, sighs or yelps during the movie. When the movie was finished, I grabbed my trash and walked outside. Right outside the door was a cool contraption that looked like a large trash bin with a metal sink and drain to dump your soda into. Then you just trash your cup in the garbage can next to the "sink" can. The small differences still keep my attention and I still see something new every day. It's not always very interesting but it opens your eyes a little.
After the movie we went behind the theatre to do a little shopping at one of our favorite stores. I don't know the name because I couldn't read the Kanji but it is across the street and directly behind the theatre on the first floor. It is like a World Market shop filled with clothing, accessories, furniture and musical instruments from India, Africa and Australia. I bought a tiny Indian jewelry holder made with pink transparent stones and clear rhinestones, a hand-made shawl and a sleeveless dress shirt made here in Japan and two pillows made from India. One for my butt while flying that old-assed Cessna and the other just to lounge around on. My husband bought a longer log-shaped pillow for the couch and an Australian Didgeridoo. After dropping over $170 in that shop alone we quickly retreated to our car, partly because of buyers remorse and partly because it was about 50 degrees outside for the first time this winter. Actually I don't think it has been that cold since I've been here. It was exhilarating and we were both wishing for snow even though it will never get that cold here.
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