Beckteria

Hirakata-shi Exploration

Well, I didn`t want to leave the house this morning because I had a headache last night and woke up with it this morning. I told myself that I need to challenge myself everyday--especially when I`m here in Japan living on borrowed time. So, I managed to rid the headache with some excellent coffee.

I set off on foot (I don`t have a bike, a car, or a scooter) down the other side of the hill where I live. (I live on a rather steep hill, so maybe it`s better without a bike.) I thought that maybe Hirakata koen (park) might be near by. Actually, it`s an amusement park and the train stops there. So, I thought maybe just finding that station would be good. Plus, my mission today was to buy shoes for school (these shoes will only be worn INSIDE the school. They can be any type of shoe--slip-ons are best.)

Amazingly, the first place at the bottom of the hill was a shoe store. There were cheap shoes that I liked, but I wanted a different color that they were out of. I really thought about just buying them anyway, well, I should have. So, for the next several hours, I wandered around looking for shoes. I did finally find the 100 yen shop that I went to on Friday that I couldn`t find again. (I have no idea why I couldn`t find it. Maybe I`m just too overwhelmed and illerate.)

So, I had a lot of fun wandering around for about 4 hours. What the fuck? I must be really bad at directions. I thought I found the shoe store again when I went back because there was a McDonald`s across the street, NO, it was a different Mickey D`s. I`ve found 3 in my area alone. (There`s also a KFC and Baskin Robbins near my house.)

Now, I`m sunburned, my feet hurt, and I`m tired. But, it was worth it. I really need to get an English map of the area. All I have is a train map (although, that is also a necessity).

posted by Bex @ 6:22 AM