My Monday

I was out of breakfast materials Monday, so went to school without eating. I knew this wouldn't be an issue though, because I (along with everyone else in my class) have become a regular patron of he whom I like to call "Melon Pan Man!" (such that "pan" and "man" rhyme, even though the vowel in "pan" technically is different). As I left first period (in the ILC, where we do listening and pronunciation lessons), I was lucky enough to meet Melon Pan Man just as he was parking his bike and thus got to buy a very fresh, warm, and delicious meron pan for breakfast. I took this picture because, as business has been booming (largely thanks to my class, I think), he has had to, um, improvise to accommodate demand. So he now "carries" his meron pan like a ballpark vendor and has even upped production a little (my class used to buy every last one after second period). A little explanation of Melon Pan Man and his meron pan: I really have no idea why it's called "meron/melon" pan. I can't taste any melon. Mostly it's "kashi pan" (sweet/candy bread) if you ask me, topped with a few chocolate chips and sugar, but it's "better" by my American standards than any of the Japanese meron or kashi pan I've had so far. He wakes up every morning and bakes these in his dorm room to sell for 100JPY each. There was a time I would have thought that a rip-off, but I've become addicted and it's so much easier to spend a 100JPY coin than a $1 bill unfortunately. Plus, I'm impressed by his entrepreneurial attitude and am therefore willing to support his little enterprise.

That evening, after doing a little homework and eating a little dinner, Stu and I headed off to meet Chris in Tachikawa, where they intended to cross two more 一休 off their list. 一休 is an izakaya (sort of like a pub maybe? but not really) chain that's cheap, especially if you're a member (which the three of us are). Stu and Chris have made it their special goal to go to every one while they're here, which is quite feasible as there are only 20-some and they've already done about 10. I think when they finish they'll have another round. Anyway, Stu and I saw this as we walked to the train in Musashi-sakai Eki (station). Sorry you can't really read the smaller text, and I don't remember exactly what it said (I suspect it's along the lines of "A Good Friend's ---- Enriches A Heart")... but I do know the last line says "SN'T KIDS." (If you're getting tired of Engrish postings, just let me know.)

After hitting up both the north and south 一休 in Tachikawa, having a fair amount of food and beer (including their ritual eating of a semi-raw egg), and talking lyrics and music and plans for our rehearsals this week, we found a place to karaoke for a bit. Though I'd been reluctant to go out in the first place yesterday, I had fun, and somehow we got lucky when it came to homework, as much of what we thought was homework wasn't.