I’d been waiting years for the unibody MacBook -_- It finally came out on the 15th, but money was tight, so in a desperate bid to save a few coins I waited for it to go on sale at Bic Camera, where you get points. And that was already back on the 19th. (The model I wanted wasn’t even cheap, yet it sold out the moment it came out, and I only just managed to get one at the Bic Camera PC store in Ikebukuro.) Come to think of it, that was quite a while ago now. Anyway, I did buy the MacBook, but setting it up took forever. After nearly a week of struggling with it, I’m finally back to posting. Having used it a bit, iPhoto is amazingly convenient ^_^
About 40 minutes out from Shibuya, in a place called Minami-Machida in Tokyo, there’s a small outlet mall. It’s pretty close to central Tokyo, and on weekends there are even express trains. It seems to be fairly well known in the area. Before wrapping up my eventful life in Tokyo and moving somewhere else, I needed to buy some clothes and shoes, so I went. To be honest I wanted to go to Gotemba, but it’s just too far..
You take the Den-en-toshi Line to get there. This area is a planned town. People say it’s nicely laid out, but it’s really just a countryside neighbourhood -_-
The station.
The station connects directly to the outlet mall.
It turned out to be really small. About the same size as Karuizawa.
I was expecting something like Iruma, so I was pretty disappointed.
There’s an event going on for the locals.
Pumpkin decorations, of course -_-
There were hardly any brands I like. No Nike, even — need I say more.
Thinking it was pretty unremarkable, I bought a pair of dress shoes at a price that was barely discounted. Then, as I was heading back toward the station to go home, I found a GAP.
Today I hit the jackpot. Clothes in exactly my size were 75% off. I’m a pretty unusual size, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing, but at moments like this I’m really happy. I grabbed the last pair of size-28 jeans. Thinking this was my chance, I went on a spree buying tops too. The magic of a sale is that it suddenly makes ordinary clothes look attractive. That joy is surely what outlet shopping is all about.
There’s a Carrefour next door too.
You can take a break here or leave your bags.
Before leaving, I raided one more shop.
Here too I came away with an armful of small-size clothes. It’s a mall other people might find hard to be happy with, and honestly I was pretty dissatisfied at first too, but in the end I had a happy shopping trip. A 28-inch waist in your thirties is a bit startling even to me. So for normal people, Iruma or Gotemba will be far more satisfying.
The MacBook setup is done. It already feels so natural in my hands that I don’t think I’ll be able to use any other laptop. I’d like to post often from now on, but work is getting very busy and I no longer live in Tokyo, so it probably won’t be as easy as before. I plan to post now and then as I travel to various places, including Korea. If things go the way I’ve planned, everything will work out within a few years and I’ll be back to a glamorous foodie life, but you never know how life will turn out.. Truth is, just a few months ago I never dreamed I’d be leaving Tokyo again…
From now on, updates will be irregular. Please don’t expect too much..