Reading my last few posts, I feel really disjointed from what I wrote. Like…that’s not really me talking…but it is…I think that over the past few weeks I have been going through a lot of ups and downs on my purpose and identity. Not that I need to establish purpose and identity…but I would like to have some sense of priority. There are so many possibilities here and I have some limitations (distributing time and money) so I am in this phase of “ok what should I concentrate on”. Indecisive days leave me in this really shallow place with not so much personality and I feel like that’s been reflected in whatever I write. Then…maybe it was just from being sick…which I am not anymore so that is good.
I think I am coming to some conclusions on what my focuses here should be…which is also good. Hopefully this will lead to more action and adventures : P. I guess I also need to figure out money priorities too because adventure does mean managing / budgeting how much you are willing to allocate to these activities. That is something a little hard about living here. There are SO MANY OPTIONS AND THINGS AND STUFF and if you are like me you likely repress decisions until they come out in impulses and then you wonder why did I spend money on this again?
So…what did I spend my money on this past weekend : ) Well…Saturday I had a Japanese lesson and I spent most of my time before and after studying. Learning as much of the language as possible while I am here is high on my list of priorities – the great thing is that it is fun!
Sunday was a beautiful day so I had to spend time outside but before that, the good weather inspired me to do some yoga, run, and get some housework done. Then I took a train & subway to Minato Mirai, a very new area in Yokohama. Mirai basically means “the future”, and futuristic it was. I didn’t hang out for very long, but strolled through the subway station, rode up the longest escalator I have ever been on, saw some jugglers, followed a crowd past surreal looking silver buildings and carnival rides, over a bridge and through a shopping centre. I skipped buying 350円 plates though I might have to go back because they are still on my mind. Back outside the shopping centre, I walked by a very nice field for picnic-ing and to Akarenga, old red (aka) brick (renga) warehouses converted to buildings with shops. Again, very very surreal looking because this two ancient warehouses are in the middle of nowhere (or as nowhere as I have been since arriving here which is never very far from somewhere else).
Click that last link to see a picture. Sorry…no pictures from me. Wasn`t in the mood I guess. But I will have to go back. I really liked the atmosphere of the place. There were many people sitting outside the buildings, against the wall or on the steps, eating frozen mango or ice cream purchased from cafes inside. They all looked relaxed, care free. Definitely enjoyed the vibe there.
But on I went…to Chinatown! So again, I will have to make a few trips for full enjoyment of all of Chinatown’s flavours but this initial dip of the toes (or tongue?) was definitely a yummy one. Many places sell roasted chestnuts and I would not have bought any normally but the sweetest looking guy approached me in the street and reaching out with a sample asked “chestnut?” I couldn’t ignore his sale attempt in English so I tried and without reflecting on what I just ate, bought a small bag. But yum!! Wow I did not know they were so good. In fact until yesterday I thought that chestnuts were possibly mythical, like Santa Claus and that whole gang, because I had only heard of them in Christmas related media but had never actually been offered them to eat. Sure maybe they were in bowls by the fireplace but they were never eaten so I thought well, they are probably fake. But now I know. Chestnuts are awesome! There are many other food things I will have to try in Chinatown. I am happy that it is not too far away.
Because of my desire to save money and my non-camera mood, I decided to end my adventure early and I headed back to Yokosuka. There, I met up with my neighbour Hitomi and we went to a restaurant nearby. The restaurant was split into 3 areas: one for sushi, one for fish dishes, and another for yaki-niku and korean food. It made choosing very hard, but in the end, I think we could have ordered from all three menus regardless of where we sat. The supper was very good…a salad with tuna sashimi on top, korean style okonomiyaki, and a spicier korean noodle dish.
By the end of the day I was pretty tired and I slept really really deeply last night. With weird dreams though. I won’t get into it now – but quickly – I lived in an apartment building with basement levels that were used as a prison. In the beginning there was a family (husband, wife, two children) in there for political reasons and the children were constantly wandering off in the night to sleep in random locations. I would find them and bring them back to their rooms and stay with them until they fell asleep again while cursing their mother because she was neglecting them. Later in my dream the family was gone, but the new inmates were your typical movie-style prisoner folk. I think this all took place in Vancouver/Regina morph…let’s call it…no let me think here for a moment…Recouver. It was weird stuff. I was walking through a park by this building and there was snow on the ground but it was summer and there were these large-beaked birds from Australia perched on smaller trees. They were diving birds and one dove towards me, crashed into my shin and then deflated into something resembling a rubber chicken.
Ha…yes…quick.