２０１４年４月６−７日

April 6th:

I took the opportunity to get a hold of a guitar on Sunday. Those who know me can attest that music a pivotal part of my lifestyle. Before I left for Japan, I had been practicing guitar pretty religiously (at least for my standards). I headed over to the local Yamaha music store to look for a guitar to rent. I found these delicious strawberry glazed waffles, something Maika had recommended to me.

Strawberry waffle batter glazed with sugar... One of these for 150 JPY. 

I found out at the Yamaha store that they don't offer rental services for instruments here... So I decided to head to 梅田 Umeda to find a guitar store, since I had seen there are a couple there. Umeda was pretty crowded, and full of electronics retailers. One of the malls had this giant ferris wheel on top of the roof. I'll be sure to get on that thing soon and get some pictures for y'all.

 I walked around taking the most crowded streets I could find. I was looking for people carrying guitars to ask them where I can find a guitar shop. Finally, I came across a guy who took me to this store.

E.S.P. guitar shop.

A small store, but guitars all over every wall.

I contemplated buying a small-bodied guitar because it was about 20 bucks cheaper than the cheapest full size, but I was not willing to sacrifice the sound quality. I forgot to take a picture of the guitar I took, but here is little video of me getting comfortable on it. Forgive the mistakes, this is far from rehearsed.

Got the guitar, and headed for home.

Getting a little bit more familiar with this system each time I use it.

A cool shot of the train conductor taking me north to the dorm. 

A little more sakura never hurt anyone. Gotta capture them while they are around still. 

 That night during our meeting, one of the girls living here came in passed out in the arms of 4 guys. Apparently she had not eaten anything all day and had passed out from exhaustion? It was quite the scene and I snapped this shot of the ambulance outside after they took her out of the room. She is alright, but it was a scare for everyone.

Also, there is one of the UCB guy's face (Jason)  on the bottom left of the shot.  

After a long, tiring day, I finally got a hold of a bicycle. 

3 gears, two locking mechanisms. Way too small for me still, but for 10 bucks it was a bargain.

April 7th:

A dreadfully long orientation. So much paperwork... The day is done, and I am free to do something exciting tomorrow before another orientation on Wednesday. Then I officially start my lab work on Thursday. No pictures from today.