Exploration Mission Successful!

So this afternoon I set out to explore the city a little bit more and I'm happy to say that everything went really well. There is a massive mall at the Tsukuba Center train station that has everything you can thing of. There's a grocery store in the basement, liquor store, foreign foods store, home goods store, tons of clothing stores and even a GAP! I'm also very happy to say that I resisted the temptation to buy things (except for some incense and that was only 315yen).

One of places I found that makes me the happiest of all is a Nail Spa at Seibu Department store. This type of place was non-existant where I lived the last time I was in Japan. And the places I found in Tokyo when I went were just outrageously priced. This place does manicures for 1,050yen ($9.92 USD) and pedicures for 2,100 yen ($19.85 USD). Woo hoo!!! And for the month of October they have a sale going on, 200yen off.

I stopped in the foreign foods store (that had mostly foreign beers/alcohol) and there were a bunch of brands I recognized so I took pictures. I've been using my US cell phone to take pictures because its not as obvious as pulling out the digital cam. I won't be buying any Corona anytime soon, that's for sure. The price is double what it is in the states. (1480 Yen=$13.99 USD)

They also had good old American Budweiser which I don't drink but still thought the price differential was interesting (198 Yen = $1.87 USD). And last but not least, they had one of my favorites...Negra Modelo. Usually if I buy this beer out at a Mexican restaurant or something it would cost more than it does here so I can justify buying this : ). (298 Yen = $2.81 USD)

I feel like I'm discovering Japan all over again which is really nice. I spent the afternoon wandering in and out of stores, riding my bike around town while listening to my ipod. There are so many nook and cranny spots that I'd like to check out but I'd like to check them out with a friend because they are like food and night life spots. At home I'd go alone, but here I'm a little more hesitant.

Back to shopping...so in Japan you are likely to see all TYPES of messed up English sayings on products. There is a whole website dedicated to it that is hilarious, but I've decided to spot my own mistakes and post them here.

<--This tee's brand name is "Love Is..." and all of them are supposed to have sayings of how people express love?

I don't know this brand ->
but I'm pretty sure that shouldn't say "caper" LOL.

The final images I must share are of scales I saw today . The first image speaks for itself but the last one translates to "Beware of overeating!!" Gotta love this country.