Date Night

Probably after about 3 or 4 weeks, my girlfriend and I were finally able to go out for an afternoon/evening together. Before the move, she was busy finishing up her thesis, while I was busy finishing up with school and doing the packing/preparing to move. 

Before we headed out, we went to the station to enquire about purchasing a commuter pass (定期券). I used one when I was in Kyoto for my studies back in 2014, and I remember that it was a bit more involved to get the pass in that I needed to not only fill out a paper form, but had to provide proof of where I lived and why I needed to go to my destination. Even then, I could only use that pass for the one subway line. 

Since I need to take two different train lines to get to my work and one of which is not a JR line, I was a little bit concerned that I would have to pay for two separate passes. Nope, turns out, I could purchase a pass that could be used for both lines. On top of that, I didn't need to fill out any form this time; it was all done at the station's terminals where you normally purchase tickets/recharge your pass. All I had to do it was input the station I will leaving from, to the final destination station, and also inputting the station I was going to be changing lines. Finished it off with my name and phone number, and I was good to go. My new commuter pass isn't as cheap as the one I got in Kyoto, but it's still cheaper in the long run. I'll roughly be saving about 3000-4000 yen (roughly $30-$40) a month as a result. Of course if I bought a 3 or 6 monthly commuter pass, I would be saving more. However, as this is my first month, and I haven't got my final pay from my previous employer yet (not until the 25th), I just went for the 1 month commuter pass. 

Anyway, after sorting out my commuter pass, we went to my city's main station (I live near a smaller station that's 2 stops away from the main one) and decided to walk along the main strip to see what's around. My girlfriend looked at a bunch of stores, and I had a look at one store that, among other things, sold some international snacks, including some honeycomb chocolate made in South Australia. I didn't realise it had been at least 3 years since I had some honeycomb chocolate, so I purchased a bag of it. Yeah, it's not Violet Crumble, but it's just about the same thing. 

We had some time to kill before dinner, so we decided to go to karaoke for an hour. What we found surprising was that there was at least 3 karaoke places along the strip. In addition, they seemed to be really cheap, even with drink bar included, at least compared to my previous city. Though most likely because of the system we chose at karaoke in the past, the karaoke place we went to had a greater selection of songs.

After karaoke, we headed to a nearby yakitori place. From experience, yakitori restaurants' dishes are usually cheap individually, but it does build up the more you order. Regardless, it's was pretty good. 

We headed back around 8 p.m. after a quick train trip. We both had fun, especially since it had been a while since we had a "date night." We hope another opportunity to go out there again during the upcoming Golden Week. We're looking to get a vacuum cleaner for the apartment, and I'm looking to get to get some new shoes that will be good for the rain too. 

Going to the Supermarket on Sunday morning lately

An afternoon in Choshi

Today, I went over to Choshi in the Chiba Prefecture. My main reason for going there was because there are no malls in Kamisu, and I haven't been to anything remotely close to a mall since arriving in Kamisu. The other reason, is because I wanted to look for something for my girlfriend for her birthday coming up soon.

After a 30 minute drive from my apartment, and across the bridge connecting Kamisu to Choshi, I finally arrived at Aeon Mall. I was actually surprised that it was smaller than what I was expecting - at least, compared to the Aeon Mall that's near Kyoto Station. In anycase, I decided to have a look around. Interestingly, the central area of the mall was set up for what I later found out to be a live performance by a singer. Funnily enough, I parked my car next to what appears to be the singer's van - or at the very least the organiser's van. I decided to get something to eat first - I went for takoyaki, something which I have not eaten in a while. I also purchased an iced mocha, as I have not had a decent coffee in a while, though I thought the iced mocha was so-so. After lunch, I had a look at the electronics store for something that my girlfriend said she would like. I won't mention the product, but it was a reasonable price, though I thought I should check out other stores like K's Denki before I made the final purchase. It later turned out that the electronics store was the cheapest place to purchase the gift, and I will be returning there this weekend.
Afterwards, I decided to have a look at the game center. Compared to the game center in Kamisu, it is a nice change of pace to go to a game center that doesn't reek of tobacco. There were a lot of UFO catcher games, but I wasn't particularly interested in any of the prizes. Instead, I played one game of Groove Coaster. However, because it was a SEGA game center, 100 yen only allowed me to play 2 songs, compared to 3 songs that most other game centers do. It was disappointing, and I decided to leave it at one game.

After the game center, I decided to start heading off, but not before I got a glimpse of the singer doing her live performance. I wasn't sure who she was, but the majority of the audience were older, so I'm guessing it's either someone who was more popular years ago, or a singer whose target audience is older people.

That sums up my afternoon. While it was nice to go to a mall for the first time in weeks, it's not something I see myself doing on a regular basis, purely because it's quite the trip going to the next prefecture. Though, if I'm looking for something to break up the monotony of daily life in Kamisu, it's certainly worth it for that.