Dollar Store

Last time I complained about the prices in this post. Now I'd like to do the opposite and talk about how awesome the dollar stores are here. If you are decorating your apartment (and I don't mean making it pretty, I mean buying stuff like crockery, cleaning supplies, storage supplies, curtains, etc.), then you can find most of the things you need in a local dollar store. Good quality too. In fact, if I had to choose between Wallmart/Zellers, or the dollar store here (and if the prices were the same), I'd pick the dollar store. Of course there are some things they don't carry, like furniture, appliances, etc., but at the same time they have A LOT of stuff that Canadian dollar stores don't have. Everything is really cheap too. You can buy all your kitchen supplies, office supplies, bathroom supplies, and many house-decoration/storage supplies in a dollar store.

I was quite surprised today that they even sell parts for make-it-yourself shelves there. They are not the prettiest shelves, but for 600 yen ($6) I think it's a great deal. Each part costs 100 yen, but they have different sizes, so you can make big shelves, and small shelves, deep and not deep ones. Actually I think I will get more of these for my desk, because right now it's a bit messy and the papers are just laying around.


And in case you are wondering, no, it's not beer. It's tea. I got this beer mug from a nomihodai (party) that our landlord at work hosted. He is awesome. He says he makes the best coffee in the world, and to be honest, I am quite convinced. I am addicted to his coffee. He's the one who has a pig. I think I blogged about it a while back.
This reminds me, I think next time I go to his coffee place (coffee pub? no idea how to call the place in English), I will ask if I may take some pictures. His place is so interesting. It's like a bar, but he has so many cool things in there, most of them he made himself.

Going back to decorating the apartment, I think I wrote the other day that my kendo sensei gave me a kendo calendar. Since I was taking pictures in my hallway, here's a picture of the calendar. Sorry for the poor quality, I just wanted to show you all what it looks like.













Isn't it awesome? :D