Hell on Wheels!!

i’m mobile!! there was an old bike in liz’s garage with flat tires, rusty springs and squeaky brakes. i pushed it from her house to the bike shop, about a 30 minute walk. the cutest little man in light blue coveralls wandered out of the roll-up door as i feverishly flipped through my dictionary. i’d been practicing…”this is my friend’s old bike. it has flat tire and problems. please look.” he poked and prodded and told me what was wrong, i think. i asked if he could “work now please”. he pushed it in the shop and scribbled down some numbers, 5500 yen. yikes. while i waited, his wife brought me iced coffee and his friend popped in and tried to carry on a conversation with us both. he fixed my light and adjusted my seat. when i got off the cycle to pay, i didn’t realize there was a trick to locking the kickstand and over went the bike into another bike. luckily there was no domino effect. silly white girl. as i rode home i noticed a horrible noise still coming from the brakes so i wheeled around and headed back. they were all still chatting in the shop. i said "excuse me, pardon me, i’m sorry" over and over as is the custom when you’re about to trouble someone. “noisy brakes” i mustered. they laughed. he replaced the brake pads for free and sent me on the way with a pat on the back.
now i’m a terror. this weekend i ventured farther in every direction than i’ve gone before on foot. i passed some open wooden storefront that narrows into a long hallway plastered with pictures of women bathing each other. i figure this could possibly be a public bath. we found a few pool tables at the Cheamy Amusement building. From what we could surmise, you can bring your own beer from the conbini [short for convenience store]. found a 24 hour grocery store, a bunch of new restaurants, video store, a two-story KFC and all kinds of odds and ends shops.
although there don’t appear to be any shopping malls within riding distance, liz and i did figure out how to take the bus to Jusco, an unconventional shopping center comprised of individual stores but there are no walls, it's kinda like different departments. there are three huge floors. we neglected to ask at the bus depot how to get home, so…we wandered aimless for hours, found an international foods market where i picked up salsa and tortilla chips, some rosemary and curry powder. we ate at a chinese restaurant before having someone call us a cab.
we also, quite literally, stumbled upon a shopping complex at Naoetsu, a couple of stops away on the train. we were trying to find a temple and ended up buying clothes. interesting, trendy stuff. more to come on fashion later. we also discovered a great eating spot near there. we’ve tried the pizza, a couple different salads including the ‘popular’ radish and fish egg one, which is much better than it sounds, seared tender beef with garlic and potatoes and deep fried camembert croquettes. not only is the food incredible, there are also a couple of hotties that work there and a friendly older guy they jokingly call grandpa. they all get their dictionaries out and help us decipher the menu.
i’m preparing to head home shortly. hallelujah it’s quit raining…this morning i rode my bike, steering with one hand, holding an umbrella in the other, trying not to dump my bookbag outta the old lady basket on the front. a mess. it doesn’t quite compare with my motorcycle but at least it’s wheels!!