Don't miss the new post below this one! Seriously, you don't want to miss it!

Well, I had my first class today. It wasn't too exciting, and three days a week I only have one class so I have time for many exciting adventures. Today was very hot, so my exciting adventure was limited to the purchase of a Totoro rug. Which was still quite exciting, for me.

Yesterday was very exciting! I found contact lens solution all by myself, once I managed to get the pharmacy guy to understand me, then I went down to Teramachi, alone. So, I successfully caught my bus to the city centre, and located said shopping street. I'm not saying how long it took me, though. But, once there, I found the best shop in the world, full of second-hand clothes of all sorts, but decent, good quality stuff, some of it as it is, and some of it the shop people had customised themselves, so you could have a t-shirt that was made out of two, or tops with added bows and lace, etc. And all the tops were 390 yen each, which is under £2. Once I stopped salivating I managed to buy four tops, all one-of-a-kind and completely awesome, an amazing black jacket, which was £10, and a pair of earmuffs, which I've always wanted, for £4. Here's my favourite top that I bought:



Those of you who have seen Napoleon Dynamite should appreciate it, anyway.

Anyway, after that I couldn't shop for any more clothes, because nothing could ever measure up to that shop. So I looked at DVD, game and book shops, it's so great how all these uber rare and/or long-awaited RPGs such as FFIII and FFXII and old stuff for the PS1 are just casually scattered throughout the stores here. The Japanese have it so much better, and I just wish I could take more stuff home with me, but I have neither the money nor the baggage allowance.

I explored a lot, finding my way about Kyoto centre in general, and found another giant mechanical crab scaling a building. Our Japanese friend Sada, is terrified of them, and I kind of see why. Again, camera failed me however, so no photo as yet. I then went down a street that I think led to the grand Kyoto station, well, I saw Kyoto Tower anyway, but my attention was diverted by the cutest shop ever. After browsing for a while, I made a purchase, and asked the nice lady if I could take photos of some of her displays, and she said yes. I won't sicken you all with the extreme cuteness of it all here, so here's an example:



...Or two.

Sorry, but that nut is just so cute! Anyway, on my way home, I discovered the most amazing book/DVD/CD store 5 minutes away from my dorm. All second-hand manga titles are 100 yen each (under 50p) or you can buy a full set of, for example, 10 for 500 yen (under £2.50). We're talking books that cost £7.99 each in the UK. And everything is in perfect condition, I think people treat it like a library, buying them then selling them back when they're done. The CDs are just as cheap, UK and US albums being from £2 - £4 each. I was so tempted just to buy a couple of sets, but then picked them up and realised how heavy they were, and cursed my 20kg luggage limit yet again. Oh, I'll figure out a way, I'm not passing up my chance to own the full set of Ginga Tetsudou 999, (Galaxy Express 999) which I've been dreaming of since I was about 13. Heh, I only discovered a couple of years ago that the reason I liked Matsumoto so much was the fact that I was given his anime to watch as a 4 year old kid at my childminders house; it also explains my 'stylised' drawings in art class, which I couldn't explain to my teacher at the time.

Anyway, off on a tangent I was, but yes, Japan seems to be a wonderful place...