January 9, 2000 - Sunday
Written Jan 11, 2000
I got up really early this morning---around 5:30. Eek. I didn't go to bed until
after 2:30, so when my 3 alarms went off I wasn't too happy.
I went to the station in the rain. I was the first person from our group to get there.
Hitomi came a few minutes later and the time for the train got closer and closer.
Where were the others? Hmm. They finally strolled into the station about 3 minutes
before the train was due. They decided to buy stuff at the store and were sauntering
over to the entrance when the train pulled into the station. Meanwhile, I'm all stressed
out because I was worried about missing the train!
The trip itself was quite uneventful except we got caught up in every automated ticket
machine on the way. That was quite funny, but we were always in a hurry when it
happened. We arrived in Tokyo around 11...right on time.
I called my friend Kiwako and we all decided to meet in Ginza. She would take a bit
of time to join us, so we went window shopping. Someone wanted to go to Tiffany's.
So, we did. I've never looked at diamonds like that before. I've always read that
they sparkle like fire or something and I've pretty much thought it was nonsense. It
wasn't. They were gorgeous. But, I've never felt so poor in my life. I saw a diamond
ring there that was ¥32 million. Wow. There was very little that I could have afforded and even less that I would have wanted. Even if I had that kind of money!
We looked at some other shops and then met with Kiwako.
She took us to the new Boots drugstore. I bought even more lipstick. I'm not sure
why, but I'm trying to find the perfect shade for me. I wanted to look at books
and so some of us went to a bookstore with foreign books and some of us went somewhere
else. I found a couple of books...2 Dick Francis novels for my students and a magazine
and a novel...a John Rebus book. By that time I was getting a bit peckish, even
though I'd had a bento
on the train. Kiwako, Hitomi and I went to a cafe after a long wait for the others.
It was really nice. Hitomi was surprised to see Kiwako do her painting, but for
me it was a nice treat. Kiwako paints a picture of all her meals.It's an interesting
way to record her days.
After a while the others rejoined us and Kiwako left. The others wanted to go shopping
so they did. Hitomi bought a sweater. To be honest, I was really surprised about
how expensive it was, but it was very cute.
Then, we headed off, I thought for the station, but in actual fact we headed off to
this park in the heart of Tokyo with a bridge. It was dark, but apparently this
bridge is famous in Japan. I don't know why! At one point we did see the Tokyo Tower
in the background, that was kind of neat.
Then, we finally headed back to the station to pick up our stuff and catch a train
to the Disneyland station. Tokyo Station is huge. There are conveyor belts for
people just like they have in some airports. We caught a train with no trouble and
at the Maihama station we got off and caught a bus to the hotel. We were all really tired,
but some of us decided to go and have supper.
We went to the buffet downstairs and ate and gabbed. It was nice. A lot like old
times.
After that we went back to the hotel room and went to bed. Unfortunately the room
was really hot and I woke up at 2 and then at 6 because I was just sweltering. But
that, well, that's part of Monday's story! Later.....
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