Through the Eyes of a Wombat

Wombats are supposed to be nocturnal, yes, but no one ever told me freezing was part of the job description!
I was starting to get a little on the hungry side, so thought "Aha! This is the perfect time to go hunting for a niku-man". (A nikuman, for those of you who havent had the pleasure, is a little bread roll with meat and stuff baked in the middle, kinda like a cross between a bread roll and a pastie. Its the closest one can get to pies in this country.) They are tasty (which is good), piping hot (which is better), and cheap! (which is best!). Though at this time of night and it being freezing outside, I think I might even go so far as to say that being hot is bestest...

Begin the adventure.. There is a FamilyMart about two minutes walk from here (the Kaikan), and convenience stores sell nikuman. I rug up in two jumpers and a coat, step outside my burrow (even the corridors are cold), then rush up stairs, out through the foyer, into the cold, dark night air, put my head down and scamper up the hill to the Family Mart.
"Oh, we're sorry, we dont have any nikuman today because todays date, when multiplied by the mayor's birthday gives a prime number. Please come back tomorrow".
Not only did they not have any nikuman, but they had nothing at all in the hot food section, and I cant heat anything up even if I bought something cold... I dont even have the facility to boil water... remind me to rectify that tomorrow.
So, undeterred, I decided to make the trek to the Lawson, which is probably about three times the distance away, in the opposite direction. Down the hill, I stopped to ponder why the storm water drain beneath my feet was making a very very loud sound of rushing water (and, come to think of it, every drain I have encountered in Sendai to date has been doing the same). This is strange for two reasons - one, we are almost at the top of a hill, so I dont see where all this water is coming from, and two, it hasnt rained since Saturday, so I dont see where all this water is coming from.
Oh well, Lawsons here we come.
You wouldnt believe it... you simply would not believe it... Lawsons were out of nikuman too. I bought a cold pikelet and came back to my burrow with my tail between my legs.
Here's something else to add to the list of first-world luxuries I realised today I had taken for granted: the ability to have a shower whenever one wants. Showers here are open from 7am til 10am, then again from 5.30pm til 11pm. Come 11, they shut off the hot water! I dont understand the reason for this... who does it really hurt if they let us shower later at night? Even leave them open til 1am and I would be a much happier wombat, but 11? At least, choosing the evening shower session means I still get my sleep-ins, and all the americans (which, so far, I think accounts for 90% of the people ive met here) all go for morning showers, so one is not required to queue up in the evenings...
Good night, I'm going to go finish my pikelet.
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