More Food

Today was supposed to be the sports festival at the school. But it rained, so it's rescheduled for tomorrow. So, I went to Bell Mall in Utsunomiya. I need to get new clothes. Between not eating as much as I used to, and walking more, I've lost inches and my clothes are looser. I don't know (or care) if I've lost weight since I don't have a scale.

There is a restaurant chain called Freshness Burger and there is one in the mall. There's also one by the Tobu station. Like many restaurants in Japan, this one helpfully had the menu posted outside. I saw something I just had to have -- a Spam burger! Yes! A slice of spam, lettuce, tomato and a fried egg on a bun. My arteries hardened in delight just looking at the thing. And it was as good as you'd think it would be! It reminded me of the Spam sandwiches my dad used to make for me.

A lime soda went with it nicely. It was sufficiently unsweetened that a little syrup pack was brought with it. It's a clear syrup, and is about the size of a creamer that would come with coffee. It seems to be the way that sweeteners are offered in restaurants here.

On the table was the best "No Smoking" sign I've seen in a while. I'm so used to the smoking bans in various Wisconsin cities that I'm taken aback when I go to a restaurant and am asked if I want smoking or non. Although not as smoke-free as the US, the trend here is toward more smoke-free areas, which for me is just fine.

Utsunomiya

I have fallen in love with Utsunomiya. It's ¥570 to get there -- about $5.46 at today's rate. I found that if I change trains at Hoshakuji, I have many more times that I can get there from here. There are only 5 trains that go directly either way between Karasuyama station and Utsunomiya station. I went there yesterday. A coworker had commented on a sweater I was wearing, and asked if I'd made it. I took the opportunity to ask if there was a yarn shop nearby. In Japanese, mind you!! She told me there was a place in Tokyo called Yuzawaya. I got home and googled Yuzawaya, and found there was a store in Utsunomiya. Well, I have to find this!!

So off I went. Last time, I went to Bell Mall from Utsunomiya's East exit. Today, I went out the West Exit. Directly in front of the station is a building called LaLaPlaza. I went in there and -- be still my heart!! -- there was a Yodobashi store on the 6th and 7th floors. Yodobashi is an electronics store. I've been to their stores in both Akihabara and Osaka. I went in in full Gadget Girl mode. I didn't see anything too exciting. Not like last year when I saw a 103 inch TV up close and personal. But it's good to know things like this exist reasonably nearby.

Then it was off, several blocks away to a building called LaPark, where Yuzawaya is. Before I got there, I checked out the building across the street called Parco. It also has several stories of shopping.

Utsunomiya is famous for gyoza. Call them gyoza, pot stickers, guotie or mahn du, I love them. So, in either the basement of Parco or the basement of LaPark, I had an order of gyoza. Yum!! Here's a travel hint: if you are in a department store in Japan, and get hungry, head for the basement.

Then it's off to LaPark for me! I found the store -- it's quite big. Lots of yarn! I'm not much of a summer knitter, though. But I will get myself a project before I leave. They also had beading supplies, felt stuff, drawing and painting, needle work, etc. The cross stitch kits look like American ones. They also have supplies for sashiko, which is a Japanese needlework art. I'll have to get the goods for a sashiko project as well. I also looked over quilting material.

Directly across the street coming from the station is a shrine called Futa-ara-san (二荒山). There are 94 steps up to the shrine. Japan is not for those with anything against stairs.

At Yodobashi, I had inquired about pre-paid cellphones at the au (KDDI's cellphone company) kiosk. They said I had to go to an au store. Back in Nasukarasuyama, I went to a book/CD/video store that I knew had a cellphone kiosk. Unfortunately, it was Docomo (NTT's cellphone company) and Docomo doesn't do prepaid phones. They are not very profitable. But a regular phone has a 2 year contract. au charges ¥18,900 to get out of the contract after 1 year, and I would guess that Docomo would do the same thing.But the lady there was nice enough to tell me how to get to the au shop. I really feel I live here when someone tells me a landmark, and I can say , "Yeah, I know where that is." or the Japanese equivalent. My version would be　はい、知っています。 Anyway, I found the au shop, and now have a cellphone! It's prepaid, so the caller pays all the charges. For less than $80, I got a basic phone (no camera, etc.), and ¥3,288 worth of calling time that will be available for 3 months. When my minutes are used up, or expire, I'll just buy more.

All I need is a bank account, and I will be all set up here.

Thanks for the comments, everyone!!