I love Mori O!!!

So I decided to spend this Saturday in my capital. I have to get a memory card for my camera. I also need to get some books to study from. I need to take a book for a friend and hand in some papers at the International center in the Aiina building. And I’d like to get some little trinkets for my kids, who are graduating.

I wanted to come down to Morioka early in the day, but I also wanted to put together the bookshelf which has been sitting on my floor unassembled for a month or so, and thereby attempt to clean up the mess of books which litter every available space and use the spaces which are cluttered with books (cupboards and drawers for example) with other things. After attaching all the shelves, I realised I had attached them to the wrong side of the upright. What really got to me, was that I had done it according to the diagram.

Anyhow I finally caught the 2.50 train out of my town and got into Morioka just minutes 4. I went over to Aiina and dropped off my forms, then I discovered that the international center’s selection included French and Italian books. I am sure there must be some Spanish ones as well, although I didn’t really stick around to look much since I had to take the book to my friend. I went over to the hotel, dropped my stuff off, realised it was already 4.30, which was the time I told her I’d be at MOSS and decided to get a cab. Ran downstairs, hopped in a cab and went to the MOSS building. As we pulled up, I realised I’d forgotten the book at the hotel. Got out, paid the cabbie, called Laura, had a bite, went back to the hotel, got the book, and came back to MOSS. I wish my brain would work once in a while. Sigh.

I gave her the book, and told her good luck with the studies. I went straight up to the Forum, the only movie theatre I’ve been to in Japan, and the one I’m loving. 3rd time’s a charm. Lol. For some reason there is always a huge gap between about 6 and about 8. No movies start in that period. Mamma Mia was starting at 6. But I’d already seen that on the plane. High School Musical was also around that time. I might have chosen to see that… Except Changeling, Benjamin Button and Australia were all on. All big name movies I definitely wanted to see. But they were all around 8. I eventually chose Changeling, knowing nothing about it, other than it would let out first. I bought my ticket, marvelling at how easy it had become to converse in Japanese with cinema/ticket-buying specific vocabulary after only 3 visits. Then I went down to the 3rd floor to Junkyudo.

Junkyudo is my favourite thing about Morioka. I like it more than the Nigerian Hip Hop Clothing store, more than all the restaurants put together, more than the clubs, more than the Forum. Well not more than the Forum. That’s probably a tie. Actually it would have to be a 3 way tie with Shinseido- the CD store. Among the three of these things, I try hard to avoid Morioka, because I always spend too much money here. I never spend less than $100 in Junkyudo or Shinseido. I now avoid the entire North wing of the train station in order to avoid Shinseido. Lol. And movies are $18 US a pop here… :(

So in Junkyudo, I found some study books, which was the objective, but the book I actually came for I couldn’t buy. It’s a part of a 4 book series by Unicom. In December I bought 3 of them, then I attempted to buy the 4th in January, but bought one I already had. That’s the book I gave to Laura. So today I was almost certain it was a particular one, but I didn’t want to be wrong. I just bought the Kanzen Masters instead. And I forgot to buy a new Kanji Power handbook. Need to go back tomorrow. Unless I find one in Aeon Mall. But then I accidentally came across Winnie the Pooh- which I recently got on a list of classic must-reads, and I bought that, along with The Old Man and the Sea, the Great Gatsby, The Door to Summer and Alice in Wonderland. Somehow I didn’t pick up Breakfast at Tiffany’s which gives me another wonderful excuse to go back to Junkyudo tomorrow.

It was now 6.30. I still had almost 2 hours to kill until Changeling would start. I didn’t feel much like ambling around with 10 pounds of books, so I went up to the cinema, sat in the lobby and read Winnie the Pooh. I didn’t like the first chapter very much. It was a little confusing. I think it might have been less confusing if someone was reading it to me. It was in the first person and yet the narrator was invisible. It was a little weird for me. I started to get into it, maybe by the 3rd chapter, and I think having watched Winnie the Pooh helped. I wonder if the author really wrote the stories for her son. I liked it, but I won’t put it on the list of greatest books ever.

I finished the book at about 8.05. 15 minutes til movie start time. I went for popcorn and then into the theatre to wait for the show to begin. It was an amazing movie. I won’t say too much about it, in case you haven’t seen it and you want to. It was the story of a woman whose son disappeared and the police returned the wrong child to her, yet refused to acknowledge her when she told them it was the wrong child. It was amazing, and all the more so because it was true!
Another interesting thing I found in the movie was the fact that the main character worked in a telephone company in 1928. It was so interesting to see the early telephone system.

But the funniest thing of all is how I sat through the entire movie going, “That woman really has some Angelina Jolie lips” and then it turned out to be Angelina Jolie! Been out in the East too long. Although to be frank she is very thin in this picture.

Afterwards, I looked at the upcoming movie posters. Doraemon is out next weekend(for Barbadians that is Albert and Sydney), as well as Otto e Mezzo- I don’t know what it is, but it’s in Italian. Dragon Ball starts in 2 weeks. Valkyrie and Twilight, whoch have been out since forever in the West will be comin next month and the first week of April. I am also very tempted to see Yatta Man! Yatta means Yay!! In Japanese. It looks like it will be hilarious, talking fish and all. But I should be saving for India… Time will tell.

So tomorrow it’s off to Aeon. Aeon is this huge company that has enormous malls all over North Japan. I haven’t seen any in the South so far (but I’ve only been back down to Tokyo once). There are two Aeon’s in Morioka. I haven’t decided which to go to yet. I think that when I get to the train station, I will take whichever bus leaves first. Lol. I think I will probably leave my luggage here too. That’s one of the things I like about Japan, the hotels keep your luggage, so I can check out at 10, leave my luggage down by reception and come back for it at 3, and not have to lug it up and down in Aeon. Although I could just as easily leave it at a locker in the train station. It is only a back pack and a bag full of books.
Till next time folks. Same bat time, same bat channel. Lol.