Friday 25th April
It felt good not to have to wake up to the alarm which usually got me started on a busy day of sightseeing. Instead, I had planned to sort out a list of things to do, including some shopping during the afternoon. I got up to a beautiful day, sunny and mild and my mood was starkly different to that of the day before. Kumi had to work in the evening and Pete had another Japanese class, so I said goodbye to the guys for a couple of hours.
After lunch of a big bowl of ramen, I walked around Amerika-Meru, the 'America Town' populated by clothes and record stores, all of which are staffed by young people with some very questionable fashion tastes. One look that seems to be popular with the guys in particular is the 1980s 'poodle rock' thing, with skinny jeans and hairspray being the main ingredients in that look. I bought a few t-shirts but not much else.
I met Pete after his class later in the afternoon and we took a walk around the shops before going to another 'British pub' to meet Matt, another Aussie who taught in the same school as Pete a few years ago. It was good fun, and Kumi joined us after work. We didn't stay too late, getting back to the flat at 23.00, as we had to be up early enough the next morning to head out to Kumi's parents house in the countryside. It had been an enjoyable, relaxing day, making a good change from all of the sightseeing over the previous week or so.
