Crisis: Averted

I was both surprised and relieved to find out that my Citibank ATM card works just fine at the local post office ATM machine. And what's more, the ATM has English instructions, which made my life so much easier. I pulled out $700-more than enough to cover both rent and living until payday on the 19th. Since Japan is a cash economy (and really safe, to boot), ATMs have really high limits on how much money you can pull out at once. I guess I won't have to ask anyone to tie ¥10,000 bills to transpacific carrier pigeons anymore (feel free, however, should the urge persist).

It was raining pretty hard today at the office and since I ride my bike to work, my boss gave me some instant ramen to eat at my desk so that I wouldn't have to get wet. Man, even instant ramen here is serious as all hell. It had freeze-dried meat and vegetables in it, packets of flavoring and soy sauce, seaweed and even a fake fish cake with a pink swirl on it. So naturally, when I went to the supermarket today, I was determined to find where this magical food came from. I was amazed to find that the supermarket had an entire aisle (both sides, too) of all ramen. I was a little overwhelmed, so I just bought the one I knew and another similar one. They were only a buck apiece.

So, I think I've decided on a cell phone (or keitai, as they call them here). I want the orange one. Please tell me what you think. Too girly? Not girly enough? The people at my office have become rather persistent about their requests for me to get a phone (they're basically required here), so I'll probably pick it up sometime this week. That's a ¥1 phone and even though it has flash games, a camera and email, it's just about the simplest phone you can buy without aid of a time machine. The "in" thing now is watching tv on your phone and also recording video.

As much as I'm trying to restrict myself to talking about Japan, I've got to let it slip that this new death cab is surprisingly decent. Especially since they've seemingly spent the last few years concentrating on disappointing their fans. At the very least, it's far superior to the last one. It's to be had on a place called the internet, if you're into that sort of thing.