If all goes as planned, we will hike Mt. Fuji Saturday. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this adventure. Hiking Fuji this summer was on my dream list before we even arrived. The mountain/volcano is only open for hiking July – early September. We were able to sign up with Fleet Recreation for an all day hike. This means we will leave early Saturday morning (0145), ride 3 hours on a bus and then set out on a 10 mile round trip hike to the top. We will return to the base around 2300.
When we were still in Chicago, we mailed ourselves several boxes and in one of them I packed hiking clothes for us both. I decided not to pack our hiking boots because everything I read, said running shoes would be fine. Well, that was bad gouge. We attended the mandatory safety brief a couple weeks ago and they highly encouraged hiking boots and gaiters. Mainly because the trail has a lot of rocks & pebbles that end up in your shoes if you’re not wearing the right equipment. The guide discussed numerous people who hiked in the wrong shoes and finished with bloody & blistered feet. No thanks. So, we began our search for hiking boots. Finding a pair for Dave was relatively easy. The NEX had an acceptable pair of men’s size 12. Unfortunately, no women’s and the smallest men’s was a size 8. I tried them on and they were too long & too wide.
Next idea. There is a Sports Authority in Yokohama we passed last weekend. We decided to give that a try. A quick Google search revealed there was one even closer in Kamiooka.
They opened at 10am so off we went on our easy 22 minute train ride.
We found the Sports Authority easily and I beelined for the “trekking” section. Unfortunately, the largest women’s size they carry is an 8.5. Nope. We did however get a couple backpacks, hats, gaiters and gloves.
We worked our way across the street and we were about to head to the train station when Dave suggested we look through the shopping area (mall) adjacent to the train station. This mall was out of contol! TEN stories!! Yes, 10! As we walked around there were a plethora of stores with cute clothes, however after my recent shutout with shoes, I wasn’t brave enough to venture into them.
Until… We came across a Columbia store. Earlier my mom messenged me and suggested I try men’s boots after I told her of my struggle at Sports Authority. Hmmm. Perhaps a good idea. Maybe Japanese men have smaller feet. Dave said the largest running shoe he found was a 9. So, very humbly, I asked the Columbia store clerk for a size 10 in any women’s boot. No. Let me eat more humble pie. How about men’s? I could tell I confused her. She went to the register and retrieved a sizing chart. We communicated by pointing. I asked for an 8 in men’s. Yes! They were a great fit. Much more narrow than U.S. men’s shoes. I made the purchase and the jokes will probably never end about my gigantic man feet. Amazon Woman. Sasquatch. Yep. Yep. & Yep.
Happy to have completed our tasking for the day, we continued to explore the mall. Guess what was around the next corner… A Gap! I was so excited. Surely, they have American sizes. Yes, they do up to a size 8 and down to a size 000. And they were having a birthday sale – all 1969 denim on sale for ¥1969 (about $20) I bought my first pair of Japanese denim capris.
I must also mention this dressing room. Notice the carpet. DO NOT step on that with shoes on. The attendant didn’t speak a word of English until I stepped on it wearing shoes. She quickly told me “take off shoes!” Oh, yes, ma’am. She also used a masking tape roller attached to a long handle to clean it in between each customer. You can only imagine how awkward it was to exit the dressing room with the clothes I tried on and purse and attempt to slip on my converse. I was yet again the awkward American. Ehhh, it’s whatever. Just smile.
Another important purchase was a pseudo wallet for my husband. His cards have gotten out of control since we have been here. It’s his business, but I’ll be honest it stressed me out. Today he purchased this little containment system. It made me happy beyond logical explanation.
Shifting gears. Tropical Cyclone Mindulle is headed our way and should be arriving in the next 12 hours. Strong winds & a lot of rain. Commence Cyclone/Typhoon party. If only we had our HHG to unpack, instead we will watch Amazon Prime movies on the iPad. Next time we move overseas, I will make sure to pack a TV in our express shipment. #lessonslearned