This is my last entry posted from Komaba International House. I've moved my stuff to Gyotoku yesterday and I'm going to bid my farewell to everybody in a few hours.
I rented a small lorry (they refer to it as truck in Japan though) yesterday, and Atoque, a friend from Waseda agreed to drive it. Yesterday was in a way an adventure for both of us – he got a traffic summon, while I lost my purse. And, no I haven’t receive any call yet to let me know if anyone have found it. Yes, there was quite a substantial amount of money in it, but more importantly, all my IDs are there – my Alien Registration card, my Health Insurance card, my Student card plus my ATM card. Then there were my Malaysian ID too – MyKad, Driving Licence, not to mention ATM card, Marriage Registry card and even PPTD membership card.
Like I said – it was and adventure of sort. We started at about 10.20 a.m and finally returned the lorry by almost 10.20 p.m. I first thought that we only needed to use the truck for about 6 hours – it turned out we used 12 hours after all.
The day was a bit cloudy and I prayed that it wouldn’t rain because the lorry did not have any cover. We were supposed to go to Shinagawa first to pick up the sayonara sale stuff I have agreed to buy from Khurrum and Iram Kham. Khurrum, who’s working for a software company just got assigned to Dallas, so they have decided to go back to India first and sell off most of their property in Tokyo. Iram, understandably, was a bit upset since she just came in September and have been buying lots of furniture and appliances since she thought they would be settling in Tokyo for quite some time.
Anyway, it wasn’t smooth sailing to Shinagawa. Thinking that there would be a Shingawa exit point, we purposely passed the Shibuya exit and instead drove up to Kanagawa prefecture – not far from Kawasaki, and had to make u-turn, which cost extra 600 yen in toll. We went back to Shibuya and started tracing our way from there. Alhamdulillah, since the main route was only Yamate Dori, which ran along a few wards in Tokyo – it was relatively easy to find our target area.
I got a decent deal for a 560 litre 3-door fridge, a 5kg load washing machine, a mixer/blender, remote-controlled fan, a single futon, a double futon, a coffee table, some big and small drawers – all for only 20,000 yen. Iram even threw in complimentary pillow, curtains, bed sheets, pillow cases, a wall clock, coffee mugs and decorative ornament. Iram told me that she got a fight with a friend who refused to pay a decent amount for her stuff instead asking for a lot of complimentary things. At first she wanted to buy a display showcase from Iram, but when Iram refused to sell her other electrical appliance for ridiculously low price, she called the earlier made deal to buy the showcase too. That explained why Iram asked me for a 7,000 yen deposit a few days back – just as a guarantee that I won’t back off from my promise.
The truck was almost full when we were done with loading the stuff I bought from them. Then, we made our way to Shibuya, to the Vietnamese Embassy, to pick up a 25 inch Sony bilingual TV which I have agreed to buy from one of Hien’s friend. The seller originally asked for 9,000 yen, but I guess because it was quite difficult to get a buyer for a big TV, she agreed to sell it for 5,000 yen. Which is a good bargain considering that even 14 inch bilingual TV are normally sold for 9,000 yen in a second hand shop.
But before we got to Shibuya, not quite out of Shinagawa area, Atoque committed a traffic offence – we were a bit confused by the traffic light and he moved when we should not. And it just so happened that a traffic police was nearby and saw us. So he got a 9,000 yen ticket for that and a demerit of 2 points (3 points demerit in a year means retaking driving class, 6 demerit points means the driving license will be suspended). I tried to plead for a lower fine or a lower demerit point – but the officer – friendly as he was – simply did not relented from his stand. Zannen. But then again, I have noticed that’s how most people work in Japan anyway – always by the book. Not much of human factors being considered – despite our explanation that it was Ghazali’s first time offence, and we were not from the area and thus unfamiliar with it, we were only students on scholarship and do not even have part-time job and all. Yes, he was friendly – but only on the surface, I would say. Unlike his counterpart in Malaysia, who may seemed a bit garang, but they normally let first-time offender off with just a strict warning.
So, there – the first traffic summon for Atoque in Tokyo. He even asked me to take some photos to record the memory.
After picking up the TV from Vietnamese embassy, we were supposed to go to Komaba, to pick my stuff. I have been told that it should only be a ten-minutes drive from the embassy to my hostel, Unfortunately, although I have a map, I got the wrong direction, so we were unable to get to the hostel although we were already in Komaba. We tried out several routes but failed to find a way to get there. It was so frustrating that at one point I felt like giving up and just go to Chiba. It was late. We were hungry. We already missed Zohor prayer and we just couldn’t find a way to get to the hostel.
I first referred to a map with direction which I got from a security guard from my hostel. Since he doesn’t drive, it was not surprising that he gave us the wrong direction. Then, I remembered that I have another map, with direction given by an officer. Suddenly, it made more sense, and yes, we finally got it.
Prayed, had our lunch/dinner combi meal (I prepared nasi goreng in the morning before I left for Gyotoku), prayed Maghrib and started loading my stuff on the lorry. Atoque got some help from John, my Filipino friend from Waseda. Somehow, they managed to cram everything in the already almost full truck with my additional luggage bags and boxes, alhamdulillah. My compliments went to Atoque, who was the mastermind in stacking everything and securing them using the futon as a cover and then some rope to keep everything tight and unmoving.
We left Shibuya at around 6.00 p.m – the time I thought everything would be over and done with initially. We asked for some advice on how to get to the nearest highway entry point and we did so within a few minutes after leaving Komaba. It was then when I first realized that I didn’t have my wallet with me. Thinking I might have left it on my study desk in the hostel, I just asked Atoque to loan me some money for toll, petrol and additional fees for truck rental. I thought we were okay – we already were on the highway, somehow Chiba wasn’t all that far anymore.
But things didn’t always go as we planned. Atoque took a wrong turn, and hence we had another bout of being lost in Tokyo. Normally it takes about 1 hour or so to drive from Shibuya to Gyotoku. But two hours after we left Komaba, we were still in Tokyo. It was almost as if we were sightseeing tourist – a drive along Shinjuku, Yoyogi, Harajuku, Shibuya (found another entry point to the highway – but it was closed), Roppongi, Otemachi, Ginza, Kyobashi, Nihombashi, Kanda, Akihabara and Ueno. We both complained about (and maybe even cursed) the bad signage for Highway entry points in Tokyo. It was really bad – the signage is not at all helpful like it is in Malaysia. No telling where we could find the entry point, not giving us any idea where one route really lead to - and made worse by the fact that we were not equipped by GPS navigator system. I won’t even start to compare the signage found in Japan with the signage in UK (which is far better than in Malaysia – one could rarely get lost driving in UK thanks to effective and efficient signage). I tried calling some friends for help on direction – but I could not get any of them on line. Finally, we stopped at the Police station in Ueno, and I went to ask for direction from the officer in charge.
I must say that knowing a little nihongo comes in handy in such situation. Although the officer in charge tried to explain things in English, it made more sense to me when he explained things in Nihongo. He was very helpful – providing me with copies of several maps – Ueno, the Highway map, and Ichikawa map (where Gyotoku is located). Still, due to the bad signage we fumbled for a while before we got it.
Called up Pokcik to get some help with the unloading. It had been a long day for Atoque and we were both glad to know that Pokcik manage to get 3 other guys agreeing to assist with the unloading. We arranged to meet in front of a 100 yen shop, but upon arriving there, we realized that it wouldn’t be possible for us to park there due to some repair works being carried out.
Thus, I waited near the area. I even walked around the vicinity a few times, just to make sure that they were not waiting nearby, but to no avail. About 20 minutes later when I was chilled to the bone, I saw Pokcik coming, and only then we made our way to my new house.
I felt guilty about moving at 10.00 p.m. – when my new neighbours were probably already on bed, but it wasn’t like I planned to do so. Anyway – the gentlemen did everything rather efficiently and by the time I came back from returning the truck with Atoque – they were almost done. I thanked them and I promised to one of them that I’ll try to have a makan-makan session in the near future (as a thank you gesture, a common practice around here when one receives such assistance). After everything was unloaded, I then returned to my hostel.
I seldom sleep in the train, preferring instead to read, a habit many Japanese have. But last night I was so tired that I dozed off during more than half the journey home. But I got all alert and awake when return and realizing that my purse was not on my table – or in may bag, or in my drawer, or in my coat’s pocket, or in my pant’s pocket – I just could not find it.
I called the rent-a-car, asked them to check in the lorry. No, nothing there. Called Atoque’s house, just in case he remembered me putting it somewhere, but he wasn’t home yet. His wife, Kak Ida, consoled me though – and that helped a little bit. I guess I just needed someone to tell me everything will be all right.
So, instead of sleeping well on the last night where I have the luxury of a bed – I slept fitfully – thinking about a lot of things that could go wrong if my purse is not found. The Alien registration card in itself is pretty tricky since I’m moving to Gyotoku and is supposed to just get my new address written at the back of my card rather than making a new card. Then there’s the ATM card that had to be stopped. Then there’s the 60,000 yen receipt for reikin from my house owner which I’m supposed to submit to the Malaysian Embassy for a refund. Not to mention the 12,000 yen I had inside the wallet. But I was more worried about all the ID and the ATM card than the money itself.
I already have my ATM card stopped. But there’s still a lot of things to be done… I just hope and pray and wish that my wallet had been found by someone nice and kind enough to send it to the Police or to the hostel. I had a strong feeling that I might had dropped it somewhere in Komaba, when were trying to ask for direction from some passerby.
Well, so this is my last entry posted from Komaba International House.
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