Post Office and Laundry

Today’s task will be to get some more cash out of somewhere that won’t charge me 5% for dealing with the gaijin bank card.  With that, I will be able afford to eat for the next week and will have a chance to get some laundry done.  Observant readers will recall I mentioned prices on the laundry.  It is indeed per item.  So, with the amount I had, I figured I’d pack my laundry up, walk the 20 minutes to a new area, spend the wash cycle looking for a place to eat and the dry cycle eating at said place.

I head into work lamenting that I did not get a chance to use the pool in the hotel.  I’ve been just too busy with work, this blog, and exploring.  Swimming is nice, but it is, after all, just swimming no matter how awesome the environment may be.  There are new people there this time.  More east coasters with their “let’s see who can be a bigger a-hole” attitude which I politely excuse myself to be elsewhere.  Later, when they’ve calmed down, I chat them up and once you can break through that outer layer of gruff, they’re all really nice.  I can’t abide that whole tough guy attitude sometimes though so I remove myself from that situation.

I got an email earlier in my morning saying that the two people’s accounts are now active.  Really?  You couldn’t think to activate them on Monday when you knew I was going to be in the office working this issue?  You’re killing, Semour.

Lunch?  Yeah, it was meh.  I suppose I was due to have it one time or another out here.  The office girl wanted to take me to Hooters.  Yup, Hooters.  It’s pretty much the exact same except they have about 7 flavors of wings instead of 20 and it’s harder to read the menu.  I had the lunch special: SPAM sandwich with spicy mayo and onion rings.  Not too bad, but still, meh.  I would have rather gone somewhere else.  The Beer Kitchen next door, or the kobe beef place we passed on the way to Hooters.  I believe she’s said we should do the kobe place tomorrow.  So I got that going for me…

We stop in a bookstore on the way back and I grab a Manga to practice reading, if I can get that far in my hiragana and katakana.  On the way back I recognize the symbol for a post office.  Hey, this is one of the places that have an ATM that only charges about 1% for using foreign cards.  I take some yen out and breathe a little better having secured at least that part of my day’s plan.

The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to stories from the program managers that were from the east coast.  All entertaining and I got some good tips from a guy that has been here a majority of the time since 1995.  Near the end of the day a man comes in that I have only heard mention of a couple times and he’s retiring in 5 days.  I make a little small talk with him and find out that he’s retiring to Rancho Bernardo.  Small world, eh?

That same guy that’s been here starts telling me about the inner workings of the sumo ranking system and it sounds pretty cool how it is set up.  There is a tournament going on right now and some major matches this weekend.  I think I’m going to try and get a ticket or at least watch it on TV.

It’s raining as I leave the office and I head back to the room to cram my laundry into a couple bags and armed with a map, head to find the laundromat.  I emerge from the tunnels right in front of that Starbucks I ate at the first morning I was here and head down the street.  I have no problem finding the laundry place.  It’s about the size of my kitchen and has four washers and 4 dryers, a bench, and a vending machine selling what I have to assume is detergent (30¥ or 50¥) and dryer sheets (50¥).  Washing is 400¥ and drying is 100¥ for 10 minutes.

All four washers are full.  Great.  It’s misting outside, about 80°, and about 80% humidity.  I wait outside the door for about 30 minutes and finally someone comes to pull out their laundry that finished 10 minutes before.  I throw my clothes in, but the soap where I hope I’m supposed to, leave my bags on the top of the washers like everyone else, set a timer on my phone and hit the streets looking for food.  I wander, traipse, and generally meander about the neighborhood and eventually settle on an Indian restaurant, Swagat, that is right next door.  Meaning that the restaurant practically surrounds the tiny laundromat.

Having changed the laundry into the dryer, I set another timer, walk out one door and walk around the corner where an Indian man is standing outside.  I look at him, he smiles and says, “Hello, sir!”  I tell him I am hungry and am ushered inside.  I order the mutton curry and garlic naan.  It is a very memorable meal and the waiter was very friendly and I enjoyed a nice conversation with him.  Sahda, I hope the next two months pass quickly for you so you can visit your boys.

Belly full, I head back to fold laundry.  There is another lady in there doing laundry too and the two of us vying for space in that cramped little shop was comical and we both laughed as we were trying to avoid being in each other’s way.  All told, I spent 910¥ for one load of laundry.  That's about $8.40.  Anyone care to guess what the hotel would have charged me?  18,618¥ is the correct answer.  I knew you'd be close.  That's about $171.69.  So I discover a nice Indian place and save $163.  Yeah, I'm OK with that and missing out on swimming.

I casually walk back to the hotel and walk into my room for the last time.  My final rainshower awaits so I will end this entry now.

Mata ashita