So Charlton Heston DID die

Wikipedia and Google are the best things in life. I do have one issue though -- I have a Google search box in my Firefox browser, and it will automatically search Japanese Google for anything I put there. I'm sure there's a way around it so it goes to American Google but I don't know what it is.

I got my hanko! It's such a small little thing but I think it's so cool. I noticed that Bic Camera sells hanko cases with cartoon characters, I assume for kids. But why would a child need a name stamp? What do they have to sign?

Since I got the name stamp, I got a bank account. If I need money or people want to donate to the Carly In Japan fund, they can wire me something. The exchange rate isn't even $1:100 yen. So sad.

Yesterday was wet and rainy -- absolutely no fun. We went to Ikebukuro station to buy rain boots, but they're all so expensive. The cheapest I found were $37, and they were more cute than functional. I might just buy them anyway.

Today was much of the same thing. We went to Ikebukuro to shop, but we left the station this time. Went to Bic Camera for a web-cam and then to Sunshine City, a large shopping plaza. I didn't do too much damage, less than $100 between the web-cam and a rain coat. A very, very cute rain coat.

We also made it to part of the Imperial Palace grounds and Ginza. We were kind of tired by the time we got to the Tokyo neighborhood where the palace is, so we just stayed near the sakura by the moat.

Some Sophia gaijin boys, Jim and Jaime.

Ginza is like the middle of Ala Moana shopping center; it's all the high end boutiques in one area. Most people come to Ginza to window shop; there's even a phrase like Ginza-shopping that means window shopping. We passed by huge buildings for Dior, Bulgari, Coach, Armani, Cartier, and a shopping plaza with Tiffany's. I'm not sure if Gucci really needs to be housed in a multi-story building.

People also come to Ginza to people watch. I saw a guy who looked like a typical salaryman, the lips he put his cigarette to were glossed and the fingers holding the cigarette were beautifully manicured. Better manicured than my nails, for sure. There was speculation that he was a gay salaryman, but I'm not sure any company would let a male employee get away with that sort of stuff.

I swear I'll be starting school soon. From the other entries you would never know I'm supposed to be studying. I think the way we'll be registering for classes is to go to class and then register, kind of like how I signed up for clubs. I'm under the impression the first week of class is to see if you like the material that will be covered in the course and then decide whether to register or not. The only class I know I have is Japanese. First day of "class" is Friday.

Tomorrow I'm hoping we make it to Asakusa, which is the location of a very large and famous temple. I've been there before, but I think I should go give thanks/money before school starts.