すみません、カメラをなくしました！

So yesterday we planned an intrepid plan to go and get the camera back, after I freaked out and realised it was missing. We went to the local grocery and asked for directions to a kouban – sadly the nearest one was twenty minutes away, so we went to the one by Musashi-Koganei station instead.

Oh God, it was HORRIFYING. After waiting for a nice woman to finish (she invited us in with an explanation of suzushii! , meaning that it’s cooler inside) I walked up to the desk, momentarily froze, and then managed:

Me: K..Kamera o….naku…shimashita. (I’ve lost a camera)
Omawarisan: Kamera?
Me: H…Hai. (yes)

He then found a form for me to fill in, which thankfully had a little English on it. Unfortunately I don’t have my own mobile yet, so I wasn’t able to provide any numbers except Miles’ and the guesthouse. I also had to say whereabouts I’d lost it, describe the camera and its case, etc.
Eventually they told me they’d contact, and if not, I could call them up to see whether or not one had been found.

Efficient!
So then we wandered around a little more while waiting for Chihoko, who met us at the south exit of Musashi-Koganei station. She took us on the tube to Musashi-Sakai, the closest station to ICU. Even from there, it’s still a thirty minute walk…

In the midday heat, it wasn’t pleasant. But we arrived eventually!

ICU is really, really pretty. It’s so…GREEN. There are trees everywhere, but all the campus buildings seem to be really well ventilated.
We found the University Chapel, accompanied by the sounds of five million competing cicadas (those babies are LOUD), and then sat in the cafeteria for a little while. We had various beverages in Engrishy cups. I had iced cocoa.
It was good.

Then we found the Science Hall, which is where I need to go for my JASSO Scholarship talk (eeeep). This building is a lot warmer than the cafeteria, but it has snack vending machines where you can buy GIDr. (G I Doctor) cookies. So that makes it all okay!

After that we decided to walk back to go find something to eat – a cicada attacked Rob’s neck on the way – and stumbled onto a Book-Off instead.
A Book-Off is a great idea; it’s a HUGE secondhand store, primarily for books, but also for CDs.
I was feeling a little down after the loss of my camera so I bought a banapa (the band apart) CD. They also had a LOT of games – I think I might get a PSP if money lasts, because they’re SERIOUSLY cheap here.
Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright), Layton-kyouju (Professor Layton), Persona…There are a LOT of games here. If only I could understand Japanese well enough to play them all! Sob.

But yes, eventually we made our merry way back to Musashi-Koganei, where we found a ramenya (ramen eatery). Genuine Japanese gyouza and shio ramen are absolutely delicious, though quite pricey – I presume they’re cheaper from stalls.

Then we did a little more shopping (I bought an umbrella, a potted plant, and some things for showering) before saying goodbye to Chihoko and turning in.

I’m sure the novelty of the walk to ICU will wear off very quickly, but today, it was pretty fun!

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