A Monday Holiday

Today was a national holiday, so we didn't go to work. We decided to go to the IKEA store in Osaka. My wife went to look at the furniture and the household goods; I went for the hot dogs with the fried onions. :o)

The IKEA in the port area of Osaka is one of only two in the Kansai region and one of four in the entire nation. It seemed to have the same layout as the one we went to in Kobe; I'm glad we don't have to go that far anymore.

We didn't spend too much time there. We bought some red and white pillow covers for our couch pillows, a few dishes, a plant, some potpourri, and a shade for our bedroom (although once we came home we found out it didn't come with any screws!).

After that, we stopped for some kaiten-zushi (a sushi restaurant where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt and people grab what they want), then we went home and watched some TV. All in all, it was a relaxing day. Back to work tomorrow!

Costco: A Big Disappointment-o

After our journey to IKEA in Kobe yesterday, we decided to stop by Costco in eastern Hyogo Prefecture on our way home. I had heard nothing but good things about Costco. A lot of the foreigners I talk to said that Costco is good because you can get a lot of Western food. Also, my wife and I heard that because of Costco's wholesale format, you can buy food in bulk and save money.

When we went there, we found that neither of those things were true.

I went to Costco hoping to buy a lot of American things I usually can't buy in Japanese stores: American cereal, dry fruit mix, flavored coffee creamer. None of that stuff was at Costco. In addition, we found that buying goods in bulk at Costco didn't really save us much money compared with what we usually pay for single goods at the supermarket we usually shop at. It's not worth it to make the trip to Costco if we don't save money or if we can't get those American snacks and goods that we are looking for.

To top it off, the place was EXTREMELY packed. Yes, it was Saturday, but even with very wide, American-style aisles, it was very difficult to maneuver a shopping cart around Costco, making the whole experience unpleasant. As soon as we paid for the few things that we did buy, we went straight back to the counter where we signed up for membership, and requested our membership fee back. We do not plan on going back to Costco any time soon.

IKEA: Home Away From Home

Yesterday my wife and I went to the IKEA furniture store... for the third time since we moved in April. IKEA opened the first store in the Kansai area of Japan that month over in an area of Kobe called Port Island. It's the largest IKEA store in the world thus far. My wife just loves it. She likes the Western style of the furniture and goods, and a lot of Japanese people must feel the same way, because that place was extremely packed every time we went there.

When you enter IKEA, you are led straight up to the showroom, where you follow a winding one-way path taking you past displays of furniture, goods, etc. You take a pencil and a small form and write down the serial numbers of the stuff you want while you peruse. Next, you go downstairs where you can buy small stuff like curtains, light bulbs and lamps, dishes, etc. After that, you go to the warehouse where you get your unassembled furniture yourself, wrapped in flat boxes. You pay, then you go home.

I'm not as crazy about the store as my wife is. The furniture and goods are all European, so, for example, if you get a bed from there, like we did, you can only get bed covers that fit from IKEA. You can't get it from Japanese stores. Also, curtains may or may not fit Japanese-made windows. If you can get past that, though, they do have some good things. We especially like the comfortable pillows, IKEA 365+ FAST (pictured above). They also have a range of futons, from thin for the summer to thick ones for the winter.