Sarah and I have discovered the wonder that is cell-phone email. Finally, a way to communicate on weekends! I went down to the local internet cafe to meet up and chat with her over AIM. Caught up on the latest gossip concerning Jim and Vikki, neither of whom I've heard from personally. Also caught Mike online, which was a pleasant surprise.
I decided to go back to Shinjuku and DDR the afternoon away, so I did just that. I decided that I suck less on the 2P side than the 1P side, but I'm still relegated to playing Standard mode. I've realized that in order to play Heavy mode, you have to know exactly what you're doing, and my DDR sim's timing is very different from the arcade machine's. I can see why Brett has such a hard time when we use my computer to play. I stuck to playing easy songs, except for on my last song of the round, since it doesn't matter if I fail that one anyway. And every time, I picked a song I knew I could beat on my own system, and I failed every time. I came darned close to beating Era though. >_< I think the only Heavy level song that I passed was Cowgirl, and only barely, at that. More people were watching me suck away... At least they were more polite than some hecklers back in the States that I can think of. I wonder what they thought of the clueless gaijin in shorts, hopping around like a monkey to the gallops in Cowgirl. @_@;
Oh man, I felt so inappropriately dressed today. All of the girls and women in Japan wear either pants, capris, skirts, or dresses. Nobody wears shorts. Most of the guys wear pants too - if they wear shorts, they are knee-length. Actually, I saw one girl in Shinjuku with shorts that were actually knee-length cut-off jeans. But today was so hot! There was no way I could have worn pants. I would look less out of place if I went out in a skirt, I guess, but there is no way I'm going to DDR in a skirt. Skirts and sneakers don't go together anyway. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah...
People don't stack tokens to claim a place at the DDR machine. Instead, they line up, and when someone finishes a round, the next person in line takes their place. Yay for politeness. DDR is cheap too - 100 yen for five songs! Provided you don't fail right away... Of course, that means that if there's a line behind you, it takes forever to get another go. Took me a while to figure out how to access the non-Extreme songs (stupid Flykyr), but once I did, it was much easier to find songs to play. I was crushed that they didn't have Night in Motion, though. -_-
After four rounds of DDR, I'd had enough. I'm really sad that Heavy songs like Tsugaru, Frozen Ray, and even A are out of my league. I really need to work on my timing. I beat a hasty retreat because the smoke was killing me (arcades are sooooo smoky, it's awful) and I needed a drink. I remembered a fruit stand over on the west side of Shinjuku station that sells pineapple on a stick for 100 yen, which is cheaper than most drinks from a vending machine (vending machine drinks tend to range between 120 and 150 yen). Unfortunately, I was on the east side of the station, so it took me twenty minutes to get to the other side. The pineapple was good, though! Definitely better than cantaloupe on a stick, and only half the price. And I laughed because the stick that it's on is actually half of a pair of your standard disposeable chopsticks.
I stopped by another arcade and finally worked up the nerve to try out Taiko no Tatsujin. 200 yen for two rounds. So pricey. ;~; Plus, I played it on the stupid easy level, so it was no challenge at all. Still, I had this idiodic grin on my face through the whole thing - the game was really amusing. I probably scared anyone who was looking at me. My little sister would love it. She'd probably be chanting along with all the don's and the ka's. X3
I returned to Kokubunji after sitting down in a bookstore for a while to flip blindly through cooking magazines (it was all an excuse to sit down and rest my feet). Had dinner at a restaurant at the local department store, then came back to my room to watch Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, a classic anime movie that Seto-san lent to me. It even had English subtitles (sucky ones at that). The movie was great. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Lupin is awesome. :3
Today's expenses:
One hour and ten minutes at the internet cafe: 524 yen
Onigiri for lunch: 103 yen
Train fare to Shinjuku: 380 yen
Four rounds of DDR: 400 yen
Pineapple on a stick: 100 yen
One round of Taiko no Tatsujin: 200 yen
Train fare to Kokubunji: 380 yen
Dinner: 840 yen
Grocery shopping: 415 yen
Total: 3342 yen
Ugh! Over $30! For all my attempts at cheap entertainment, things still add up. Stupid train fare. And I keep going to Shinjuku because it's the cheapest place in central Tokyo for me to get to. *scratches head*
BTW, I'm fully recovered from my cold. Tomorrow's blood test is goin' down!
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Pop'n Music 10 - DJ Taka - Votum Stellarum
Current mood: Sleepy
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