Cosutoco

So this weekend has been totally rad. Yesterday after resting in bed until three, I was picked up by motorcycle by my awesome friend Mitsuhiro to go to Cosutoco. Or as we say in English Costco =)
Yea Costco in Japan. And this trip was especially magical being as my friends Mitsuhiro and Satoshi had decided to wear suits for the occasion. They didn't need to tell me twice. To Costco we went, looking fresher than a bowls of fruit—and the fruit here is Japan is presented as looking incredibly good—though it is very expensive. I had gotten my card specifically so I could do exactly what I was doing at the moment, though going in style—on the back of a super-bike in suits—was something I could have never expected. What would I find I wondered. I had thoughts of buying octopuses in bulk—though I guess in English we would say 'octopi'—which I think would have put me in a very exclusive club by the name of “People who have seriously said 'I have purchased octopi'” and may have even led to an amusing pun involving an 8 section pie if in the right company. We arrived and it was weird how familiar it felt, but nothing could tarnish my excitement. I was expecting things to be much crazier on the inside as compared to America, however to my surprise it was incredibly alike to those in the States. The layout was exactly the same as I remember, electronics by the entrance, then clothes and such, and then meet at the back. Where are all the damn squid I said to myself. But alas those I found were not to my American size standards. To my shock I recognized about 90% of the products. All the beef was from America as were a great deal of the chips and such.
One thing I was uber stoked to find was cheese!! and from Oregon too. So far from home, I quickly took Mr. Tillamook and his friend Bandon Cheddar into my basket so they could come home with someone they felt more comfortable with. Overall the trip was quite splendid, and an incredible time.


On the return trip I remember specifically a road worker who completely made my night. In the states when there would have been twelve men standing around and another four perhaps working, all of these five men working on the road were busting butt. And the one man who would have normally been on his lunch break or whatever was instead sweeping the street. A n incredibly rudimentary style broom in hand, this man, hard-cap and all, was fully committed to sweeping the streets so that no driver could be in the slightest bit of otherwise controllable danger. I was fully impressed by his dedication and gave him a double thumbs up—yes that means I wasn't holding on while on the back of the motorcycle—though don't fret he was worth it, and I was completely safe.