Exploring the surroundings

This long weekend will be the first weekend I spend in Hino. I thought I should start exploring the area. I found a church that is within 5 minutes walk. In the afternoon, I climbed a nearby hill range, and got a pretty good look at what my neighbourhood looks like from above. I also went to Chuo University (中央大学), but apparently they have a guarded gate and only students and faculty can enter T_T. I passed by a nearby theme park, Tama Tech. I will keep it in mind; it'll be a good place to spend a day with friends. There's also an expensive looking Cantonese restaurant and a hot springs spa nearby, but I think those cost too much o(T_T)o

On a side note, at first I found typing Japanese on the cell phone to be extremely tedious. The first few times I exchanged cell phone mail, I took about 10 minutes to reply and the other person would take like 30 seconds! I was discouraged - I mean it's pretty embarassing to make the other person wait 10 minutes when everyone else responds in under a minute. Anyhow, I'm still relatively slow at it but I'm amazed how fast these things can be picked up. Typing English on the cell phone however, is a separate skill.

Most people use cell phones primarily for e-mail. I find that a neat and maybe welcome change. I think the main reason is the high cost of actually talking on the phone.

Hmm, and I need to start saving money now, at least until payday comes. I have about 12,000 yen or $140 left and still 2 weeks to go. D'oh! =P