Day 28 - Revisiting Shinjuku

Today marks day 28, the fourth completed week on this trip to Japan. It's hard to think about, seeing how we only have another few weeks left -- but if I don't keep track of my time, I may not be doing everything I had hoped to while in Japan.

After class today, it was not raining nor sunny, but it was a bit overcast and the air was muggy with humidity. As the day continued we felt the heat beating through the clouds above and the moisture collecting around us made everyone sticky. I had thought I was getting away from Hawaii weather, but it seemed to have chased me to Japan.

Sena, Clinton, and I decided to walk around Shinjuku for a little while before heading home because everyone was either tired or sick today. I, who only had a few hours of sleep this morning was in desperate need for some well counted hours. Walking around Shinjuku station we came across a floor that was probably within sight every day I've been there. On this floor, was nothing but food. Food from wall to wall, ranging from anything fried to anything made as sushi. The desserts were just as numerous with mochi from ear to ear and cakes as far as I can throw one.

After mentally pulling myself out of that heaven of a place we walked around the town a bit in search for various things. First, an electronic store (not hard) for Sena who needed new head phones. On our way to find a music store for Clinton, Sena asked if we can follow her in search for Korean Town in Shinjuku that she's heard of. We thought of nothing better to do so we went along. Fortunately on the way to this K-Town, we came across a little music/video store. It looked a bit run down, and boxes were full of cd/dvd cases. When we looked down at the advertisement sign we noticed "CD 10Yen" and we laughed. No way could these fairly new singer-singles be 10yen each. We looked closer at the cd's and noticed it was the real deal. Each cd was tagged with a sticker from 10yen to 100yen depending on the release date.

Clinton and I, astounded by the feat decided to stick around the little store for a little while rummaging through three completely full boxes of artists. We ended grabbing everything we recognized in the slightest only for the thought of, "even if I won't listen to it" or "I'll give this one a shot".. followed by "it's only 10yen, what can go wrong?". While standing at the cashier's desk, I noticed one of the workers still labeling new cd's and I peaked to see what he was putting out in the front. When he saw me he covered the box with his body jokingly and gave a smile. I then picked up a Yuna Ito (singer born in Hawaii) cd and asked him how much. He proudly said 20yen and I told him I'll take it as well.

In the end I wound up buying 36 cd's that totaled to 690yen. 690yen, that's an incredible deal. Most of the cd's average for 1,050yen, so I saved well over 35,000yen. Not only that, after he tallied up my price he grabbed a stack of 6 cd's in front of him and put them in my bag at no cost and said "thank you for coming".

Now I'm staring at the many cd's I purchased with only a few thoughts on my mind. "Just how many more times will I be back to buy more cd's?" "How many cd's should I buy others? I mean they're just 10yen each." "I could possibly resell them on eBay and make quite a fine profit." "How much space do I really have in my suitcases?"