This morning I got up, showered and decided to head into Ikebukaro to pick up some supplies. I needed a pillow, house slippers that fit my 295mm feet, shower shoes that did the same, various supplies and most importantly a carrying bag for my rail pass. A JR rail pass is made of very flimsy unwaxed cardstock. It is also irreplaceable, and given its value must be protected. It is slightly larger than a passport and the new one is slightly larger still so it will not fit into the passport wallet I'd bought for the purpose. What I needed was something slightly larger than a passport wallet, preferably that could be attached to my belt and didn't require the rail pass be brought through a zippers teeth. I'd had such a case but it was really ragged looking so I left it at home in favor of the passport wallet, which as mentioned was just too small. I also needed a widget  to get my blackberry to talk to my netbook as well as a data card for the camera I brought.

The trip into Ikebukaro was cut short by the fact that the Tobu-Tojo line broke today. When I arrived they were making an announcement that featured the word dekimasen prominantly. I gleaned from what I understood from the PA system that train travel would resume at 10:20. as it was 8:00 I decided to get breakfast.... 650 yen at a Gusto.

I ambled over too the nearby department store to look for stuff, but the non-grocery section was closed untill 10:30. Since shopping was a bust I wandered around a bit looking for a laundromat and when the trains restarted I ambled back to the station.

The backlog of people who needed to get to Ikebukaro was impressive. So impressive that faces were pressed against the glass as people were being crammed in. I decided....no.

Instead I went the other way following the line out into the countryside on an almost empty train.

I got off in a random station and wandered a bit.

I enjoyed the scenery and got chirped at by sparrows. Yes,  the station was full of sparrow nests.

I started to head back, got off at a station with an attached shopping center where I found a few of the things I needed and...

wait...

Would YOU make a contract with this barber?

^{Some hairstyles come at too high a cost.}

With storm clouds gathering and the umbrella back at the maison, I beat a retreat. Still,  I got most of the things I needed except for indoor shoes and a working USB cable for my blackberry. I'll try Tokyu Hands ( which has some western sizes) tomorrow before setting off farther afield.

My foot still hurts so I turned in a bit early, only to be awakened by this...

Magnitude 4.9 NEAR S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Friday, August 03, 2012 at 13:19:36 UTC

I'd suspect Don's sinister hand in this, except he hasn't been tectonicblogging of late...but that could be a ruse.

Of course, these things happen here all the time, it's not like there's been a whole bunch of these in a similar area in the last little while.

Oh wait...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 01:21 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 643 words, total size 6 kb.