Last winter I bought a coat at the place. It was a down Carhart that was very warm. The only problem is that the down was coming out around the seams. This ended up making my fleece and other things kind of messy. It was only 20 bucks so I couldn't complain. However it was so annoying I vowed never to use it again. In preparation for skiing I wanted to find a jacket or shell type jacket that would be suited for snow conditions. I knew they had some more quality outdoor used stuff at this store so I thought I would take the chance. Sure enough I probably found the best coat I could have. It was a Columbia jacket, probably last year model, for 80 dollars in great condition and fit me perfectly. I can't say how many times I tried it on but it was a ton. It felt maybe a little too insulated and I couldn't decide. In the end it was too nice not to have. I figured if I didn't find anything else I would regret it and at least I could use this through the trip. A day later I'm more happy with the purchase than ever. I found some reviews of the coat and people have said great things about it for all kinds of activities from walking dogs in the rain to skiing.
Pretty sweet right? I love the simple design and colors. Probably the best find of the day. I also got some pants, gloves, and a neck warmer. I wanted to go for some goggles but they seemed expensive. I can't believe how much some of them cost. Even the cheapo models seemed expensive. All the ski stuff was pretty expensive though. Columbia ski pants were about 18,000 yen. With the exchange rate that is like 220 dollars! The same pants online in America are 100 dollars. I hate knowing such details. I would order online and have the stuff shipped if I knew sizes would be okay and what not. I would rather try it on and buy it thought. So I took a couple hits in the wallet for the greater good. I got some cheaper ski pants that should be just fine. Took me about 2 hours to decide on everything and leave the store.
I was pretty hungry as I didn't really eat breakfast or lunch. I decided to stop at a little joint for okonomiyaki. I ordered one and devoured it quickly. It was so good I decided to indulge in another one. While I was waiting some Japanese guy came over from a nearby table and began to converse with me. He was being mildly obnoxious and speaking atrocious English. Thanks for telling me your English is terrible in Japanese and then proceeding to try to talk to me in English for the mere sake of entertainment. Anyway I knew what he was doing so I obliged discussion without being too cynical. He wouldn't get it anyway. His five other friends were celebrating a birthday and they were being rather rowdy. Another guy came over and wanted to drink with me. I was driving so they bought me alcohol free beer and became even more excited. Eventually I was invited over to their table and more conversation ensued. Now I'm not sure if this is a familiar thing for 21 year old Japanese men to do but one guy stood up and proclaimed he was going to show his penis off. All the friends flipped out and began yelling and trying to cover him up. Luckily he didn't do it. But this should give you an idea of what I was DEALING with.
We talked for quite some time and it was mildly interesting but a little juvenile at times for me. The redeeming factor was that some of the guys were pretty cool and are in a band. They were much more level headed and decent to talk to. However, the crazy guy who wanted to show his penis told me I should spend the night at his house and then I could drink real beer with them. Well if he was willing to show his penis to me in the restaurant I'm not sure what he might try to show me in the confines of his house. *shudder* It's like Zach Dixon who asked me if I wanted to see his magic guitar when we were having a cookout at his family's house. I thought it was strange he kept it in the bathroom. So when we got there he started to pull down his pants and I turned away quite ashamed. It's a pretty funny store looking back. I declined to spend the night at the crazy guy's house and got up to pay. I was then assaulted by the whole lot of the boys and they said, "No No No you can't pay! You are family now!" I feigned politeness to the last degree until they pushed me out the door and said they would pay for my meal.
Before I could get away the ring leader came out side with his friends following and proclaimed that I should contact him. They gave me hugs and high fives. Then the crazy penis guy ran into the street and his friend had to save him from a car. After that, apparently being liberated from the confines of the restaurant, whipped out his penis in front of everyone. I dared not look down. I continued on my way waving and saying thank you. I left thinking, it sure was good I got that extra okonomiyaki.
So today on Sunday I watched the LSU and Bama game. I then played GTA for quite some time before I fired up the grill. I bought a huge box of small log charcoal yesterday for this purpose. The charcoal briquettes proved to be too hard to light. On Friday night I tested some remaining fragments of log charcoal I had and it fired up rather easily. So I cooked with regular charcoal tonight and it was great. It ignites and burns much cleaner than the briquettes I have. I think I will be grilling more and more. For the sake of you mom I took a picture of the grill but not of the chicken breasts I cooked. Maybe another time.
I was pretty hungry as I didn't really eat breakfast or lunch. I decided to stop at a little joint for okonomiyaki. I ordered one and devoured it quickly. It was so good I decided to indulge in another one. While I was waiting some Japanese guy came over from a nearby table and began to converse with me. He was being mildly obnoxious and speaking atrocious English. Thanks for telling me your English is terrible in Japanese and then proceeding to try to talk to me in English for the mere sake of entertainment. Anyway I knew what he was doing so I obliged discussion without being too cynical. He wouldn't get it anyway. His five other friends were celebrating a birthday and they were being rather rowdy. Another guy came over and wanted to drink with me. I was driving so they bought me alcohol free beer and became even more excited. Eventually I was invited over to their table and more conversation ensued. Now I'm not sure if this is a familiar thing for 21 year old Japanese men to do but one guy stood up and proclaimed he was going to show his penis off. All the friends flipped out and began yelling and trying to cover him up. Luckily he didn't do it. But this should give you an idea of what I was DEALING with.
We talked for quite some time and it was mildly interesting but a little juvenile at times for me. The redeeming factor was that some of the guys were pretty cool and are in a band. They were much more level headed and decent to talk to. However, the crazy guy who wanted to show his penis told me I should spend the night at his house and then I could drink real beer with them. Well if he was willing to show his penis to me in the restaurant I'm not sure what he might try to show me in the confines of his house. *shudder* It's like Zach Dixon who asked me if I wanted to see his magic guitar when we were having a cookout at his family's house. I thought it was strange he kept it in the bathroom. So when we got there he started to pull down his pants and I turned away quite ashamed. It's a pretty funny store looking back. I declined to spend the night at the crazy guy's house and got up to pay. I was then assaulted by the whole lot of the boys and they said, "No No No you can't pay! You are family now!" I feigned politeness to the last degree until they pushed me out the door and said they would pay for my meal.
Before I could get away the ring leader came out side with his friends following and proclaimed that I should contact him. They gave me hugs and high fives. Then the crazy penis guy ran into the street and his friend had to save him from a car. After that, apparently being liberated from the confines of the restaurant, whipped out his penis in front of everyone. I dared not look down. I continued on my way waving and saying thank you. I left thinking, it sure was good I got that extra okonomiyaki.
So today on Sunday I watched the LSU and Bama game. I then played GTA for quite some time before I fired up the grill. I bought a huge box of small log charcoal yesterday for this purpose. The charcoal briquettes proved to be too hard to light. On Friday night I tested some remaining fragments of log charcoal I had and it fired up rather easily. So I cooked with regular charcoal tonight and it was great. It ignites and burns much cleaner than the briquettes I have. I think I will be grilling more and more. For the sake of you mom I took a picture of the grill but not of the chicken breasts I cooked. Maybe another time.
I'm taking the day off tomorrow from saved up comp time. Should be a pretty lazy day. Just the way I like them.
1 comment:
nice ski jacket! good for you! i forgot all about zach dixon. sorry i didn't protect you from him but it sounds like you were well prepared to meet those bozos. does that word translate to japanese?! nice grill fire. how did the chicken taste? we watched the broncos and tebow win today. great game! lucky you having monday off. we don't get veterans day, the 11th, off here in CO. darn. have a good week! love you!
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