Yesterday I thought "well I'll take it easy today, do some stuff at home, and maybe go to Atsugi to look for Halloween costumes." We have been invited to a Halloween party on Saturday night in Yokohama -- George's friend is throwing the party, and George said he was sure his friend would love us to come (and apparently confirmed that fact). So I did a little research online, but didn't really find anything that jumped out at me, so I went to Atsugi to look around the malls for inspiration.
After walking around Mylord and Parco, and having a cup of coffee at Cafe du Monde, but no luck with costumes, I decided I'd better get the train back to Zama to do some grocery shopping before Nick got home (they all get out early on Wednesdays -- it is referred to as a "no overtime" day, even though no one gets paid overtime or anything anyway). When I got to the train station, there was a big crowd gathered in the lobby area, and no one seemed to be going through. Then, I noticed the sign that was going back and forth between Japanese and English. It said the line had been closed between Ebina and Ishedara due to an accident and that it would take until 6pm to clean up. Ebina is between Atsugi and Zama and Ishedara is on the other side of Atsugi, which meant no one was going anywhere. After a few minutes they shut the lights off in the station and basically shut everything down. This was at 4pm. So I called Nick to tell him what was going on and he said to just keep shopping and hang out until 6pm.
So that's what I did. I ended up finding a really cool store, somewhat reminiscent of a stripped down H&M, but the quality of the clothes seem even better than H&M for a comparable price. It was while I was in this store that I thought of what we should be for Halloween. They had newsboy caps on sale for 1000 Yen each, so I thought we should be English schoolboys! I went to another store to buy very long argyle socks, and I figured we would just tuck our pants into the top of the sock.
At about 10 to 6pm I went back to check on the status of the trains. At that point it appeared nothing had changed, but it looked like a few people were going through. Suddenly, one of the signs that shows what track the next trains are going to be on flashed that a train for Sagami-ono would be there in 10 minutes. Sagami-ono is the right direction for me, so I went through. There were tons of people already on that platform, and I got stuck on the stairs because the platform was full. Nick called about then and said he was leaving work. He said the accident had been at a crossing, so we guessed that a train must have hit a car. We decided to meet at home, and hung up just as the Sagami-ono train was arriving. I have never seen so many people packed onto a train, and just when you thought there was no room and the doors would never close, another person squeezed themselves in. I figured another train would be along shortly -- one that I wouldn't have to be inside someone's buttcrack to ride on -- so I waited. Sure enough, the sign flashed that a few minutes later a train would be coming for Shinjuku -- also the correct way for me to go. While I was waiting for that train, I called Nick and suggested we meet in Ebina for dinner, since I never got to the grocery store and didn't really feel like making food at that point. He agreed, so we met in Ebina and had dinner at Outback. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the ordeal, but here are some pictures of the shortcut I found in the morning on my way to the train station. It is through a park across the street from our apartment.
Today, I did my morning internet routine, did some yoga, ate lunch, and read my book. After my shower I decided to go to Machida because there is a store there called Tokyu Hands that someone on gaijinpot.com had said would probably have Halloween costume accessories. I am getting a little ahead of myself though, let me backtrack for a minute. Last night when I told Nick about my idea for the costumes, he though it was good but he thought it would be better, and much funnier, if he went as a Japanese schoolgirl (you see them ALL over the place, I swear they never are actually in school, just riding the trains and walking around in their uniforms all day). My thought was, where am I going to get a wig? It's not like there's a Halloween USA around every corner like back home. So that brings the story up to date.
This is Machida -- if you look closely you can see Tokyu Hands on the right side of the street further down...
Tokyu Hands is an awesome store! It is 8 floors of anything you could ever want, from pet supplies to bikes, to guitars and pianos, to clothes and so on. I ended up finding a wig that would be good for Nick's costume, and a little fake pumpkin for our kitchen table.
Next, I needed to find Nick a skirt and me some long shorts to complete the outfits. I found some skirts in another store, but they were a little more than I wanted to spend and I wasn't entirely sure they would fit Nick. After searching around a little more, I gave up and went back to Zama. But I will for sure be going back to Machida, as I also found a TGI Fridays there, and perhaps I will have to go back for that skirt if I can't find anything else.
I was going to go to the Uny for my groceries tonight and check out their skirt selection, but I decided I was too tired to walk all the way down there and back, so I picked up a few things at the Odakyu grocery store and decided to go to the Uny tomorrow.
I am excited for tomorrow -- we are finally having our welcome party! Hopefully it doesn't pour down rain like the last time we were supposed to have it! So, Saturday we will be going to Yokohama to exchange Nick's backpack and for the Halloween Party and on Sunday we will be going to Tokyo Disney if it doesn't rain! I can't wait! Have a great weekend everyone!
After walking around Mylord and Parco, and having a cup of coffee at Cafe du Monde, but no luck with costumes, I decided I'd better get the train back to Zama to do some grocery shopping before Nick got home (they all get out early on Wednesdays -- it is referred to as a "no overtime" day, even though no one gets paid overtime or anything anyway). When I got to the train station, there was a big crowd gathered in the lobby area, and no one seemed to be going through. Then, I noticed the sign that was going back and forth between Japanese and English. It said the line had been closed between Ebina and Ishedara due to an accident and that it would take until 6pm to clean up. Ebina is between Atsugi and Zama and Ishedara is on the other side of Atsugi, which meant no one was going anywhere. After a few minutes they shut the lights off in the station and basically shut everything down. This was at 4pm. So I called Nick to tell him what was going on and he said to just keep shopping and hang out until 6pm.
So that's what I did. I ended up finding a really cool store, somewhat reminiscent of a stripped down H&M, but the quality of the clothes seem even better than H&M for a comparable price. It was while I was in this store that I thought of what we should be for Halloween. They had newsboy caps on sale for 1000 Yen each, so I thought we should be English schoolboys! I went to another store to buy very long argyle socks, and I figured we would just tuck our pants into the top of the sock.
At about 10 to 6pm I went back to check on the status of the trains. At that point it appeared nothing had changed, but it looked like a few people were going through. Suddenly, one of the signs that shows what track the next trains are going to be on flashed that a train for Sagami-ono would be there in 10 minutes. Sagami-ono is the right direction for me, so I went through. There were tons of people already on that platform, and I got stuck on the stairs because the platform was full. Nick called about then and said he was leaving work. He said the accident had been at a crossing, so we guessed that a train must have hit a car. We decided to meet at home, and hung up just as the Sagami-ono train was arriving. I have never seen so many people packed onto a train, and just when you thought there was no room and the doors would never close, another person squeezed themselves in. I figured another train would be along shortly -- one that I wouldn't have to be inside someone's buttcrack to ride on -- so I waited. Sure enough, the sign flashed that a few minutes later a train would be coming for Shinjuku -- also the correct way for me to go. While I was waiting for that train, I called Nick and suggested we meet in Ebina for dinner, since I never got to the grocery store and didn't really feel like making food at that point. He agreed, so we met in Ebina and had dinner at Outback. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the ordeal, but here are some pictures of the shortcut I found in the morning on my way to the train station. It is through a park across the street from our apartment.
Today, I did my morning internet routine, did some yoga, ate lunch, and read my book. After my shower I decided to go to Machida because there is a store there called Tokyu Hands that someone on gaijinpot.com had said would probably have Halloween costume accessories. I am getting a little ahead of myself though, let me backtrack for a minute. Last night when I told Nick about my idea for the costumes, he though it was good but he thought it would be better, and much funnier, if he went as a Japanese schoolgirl (you see them ALL over the place, I swear they never are actually in school, just riding the trains and walking around in their uniforms all day). My thought was, where am I going to get a wig? It's not like there's a Halloween USA around every corner like back home. So that brings the story up to date.
This is Machida -- if you look closely you can see Tokyu Hands on the right side of the street further down...Tokyu Hands is an awesome store! It is 8 floors of anything you could ever want, from pet supplies to bikes, to guitars and pianos, to clothes and so on. I ended up finding a wig that would be good for Nick's costume, and a little fake pumpkin for our kitchen table.
Next, I needed to find Nick a skirt and me some long shorts to complete the outfits. I found some skirts in another store, but they were a little more than I wanted to spend and I wasn't entirely sure they would fit Nick. After searching around a little more, I gave up and went back to Zama. But I will for sure be going back to Machida, as I also found a TGI Fridays there, and perhaps I will have to go back for that skirt if I can't find anything else.
I was going to go to the Uny for my groceries tonight and check out their skirt selection, but I decided I was too tired to walk all the way down there and back, so I picked up a few things at the Odakyu grocery store and decided to go to the Uny tomorrow.
I am excited for tomorrow -- we are finally having our welcome party! Hopefully it doesn't pour down rain like the last time we were supposed to have it! So, Saturday we will be going to Yokohama to exchange Nick's backpack and for the Halloween Party and on Sunday we will be going to Tokyo Disney if it doesn't rain! I can't wait! Have a great weekend everyone!
posted by Stacy Bee at 7:13 PM
3 Comments:
It sounds like you continue to make the best of every experience even the unexpected ones. Love to read about your adventures.
I agree with Nick's idea for the costumes. Please post pictures:)
hello,
sounds like quite the spooky adventure. I want to see a bunch of japanese people with eyepatches, if you find any jappirates, take a picture.
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