29 December 2007 – 東京

Masha's poster of ガリレオ watch

The flight touched down at Narita Airport around 7am. There were not many people at the custom, probably only passengers from my flight. It was the first time I entered Japan after they implemented the system to take visitors’ photos and thumbprints. The process was rather fast. Lucky!

I washed my face etc before I headed to Tokyo. The 山の手線 train was rather empty. Most of the people would have returned to their hometown for New Year. By the time I reached Tokyo, it was around 11am.

It was not that cold as I expected. I went to shop around at 大井町駅 before I met 中山さん and ともこさん at 人形町. It was the first time I went to人形町. I took a different subway from中山さん so I had to come out of the station and walked for a while before I reached our meeting venue. 人形町 is an old street. The shops sell traditional Japanese food, clothes etc. If I have more time, I would have explored the area.

We went to 今半 for Shabu Shabu lunch. This shop is famous in this area. I found the beef delicious but 中山さん and ともこさん said this beef is of low quality and the beef that their hometown is of much higher quality.

中山さん showed me the new mp4 sony walkman which he bought. The price is cheap (about $200) for 2GB and I like it. I am interested to find out more before I decide whether to buy it.

中山さん is so nice. He called up ticket shops in Shinjuku to check if they sell Masha’s 30 Dec concert tickets. Too bad it was either sold out or the shops don’t sell it.

We went to Shinjuku as I wanted to go さくらや to check ガリレオ watch. I was so excited when I saw the watch! I tried it out and found that it was too big for my waist. I can only see the surface of the watch, without the strip. The salesman discouraged me from buying the watch. He said it does not serve any purpose without seeing the strip. I was so disappointed! I had prepared the money to buy it…

We proceed to the service counter as I wanted to change the battery of my watch. To my surprise, I saw Citizen’s newsletters that has Masha on cover! I took the copies while waiting for my watch. The sales told me that there is no need to change the battery as it still works. He refused to change for me! Strange…

We went every floor to see watches. It’s heart pain to see ガリレオ watch but not buying it. I bought 2 watches for my dad. He requested to use for working. I wanted to buy a pair watch for parents. After checking and considering, I decided to drop the idea as I don’t know if they like it and the watches are not cheap.

We went to a nearby café at a department store for tea break. As the ala carte café has very long queue, we went for the buffet (バケキング) instead. The time limit is about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. I just aimed at the cakes! It was past 5pm and I will be meeting Su for dinner.

We chatted and left around 6pm and headed for Tokyu Hands as I need to buy small pens for dad. I left Tokyu Hands after 7pm and bid farewell to中山さん and ともこさん. I felt sorry as my time with them is always so short. I hope I can spend more time with them. They are such nice friends!

I rushed back to hotel for check-in and get the souvenirs for Su. I met Su at his office past 8pm. I cannot remember how many times I have been to his office. It seems that everytime I go Tokyo, I will visit his office. His office layout has changed ever since I went there in Sept.

We went to 「なあさん」, a 居酒屋 near his office which serve 沖縄料理. The food was delicious, mainly on vegetables. Su told the owner that I will be coming to the shop. Probably I am the first foreigner who visit the shop? It is a small居酒屋. Nice food, friendly owners (old couple) and regular customers. I can understand why Su patronize the shop so often. The old woman resembles Su’s mom!

We chatted and ate. It was fun and relaxing. We left the shop after 11pm and stopped by a convenience store to buy groceries. Then we went back to his office again to get beer and sake. He gave me beer and sake to drink in hotel. I kept blaming Su as I will definitely miss Masha’s radio programme. Well, it’s also my fault that I was late for our appointment. Hehe.

I can’t recall exactly what Masha said in the programme. He did mention about movies. Though I had a good sleep on the plane, I was still tired because of lack of sleep and moving around the whole day. My eyes were red and dry. I slept at 2am… I must relax today!