Ikea!

For the second time, Ikea has come to Japan. Considering the size of the apartments here, it really is a wonder that Ikea didn't catch on the first time around. But I hear that was back in the '70s, and maybe people were still feeling a bit traditional in those days...

It's Golden Week, a time when most people are off of work and want to travel, and so therefore they jack up the ticket prices. I desperately want to get out of Tokyo, even if it's just for one day. The new Ikea store is located in Chiba, which, technically, is out of Tokyo, but because we're taking a regular train, ticket prices aren't effected by the price gouging. Therefore, Ikea ni ikimashyo!

F., C. and I head out to Chiba, just past Tokyo Disney, to the Ikea. You can see the bright blue and yellow warehouse from the train. We all get excited. It's Golden Week!! We're out of Tokyo!! We're going to Ikea!! Most of the people on the train with us get off at the same stop. When we get closer to the store, we see it: The long zig zagging line that wraps all the way around the building to the parking garage in the back. The last time I saw a line like this was when we were trying to get out of the damn Aichi World Expo!

After some debate, we decide to go ahead and wait in line... It was the reason we went all the way out there, and what else is there to do in Chiba? And I had promised three people that I would bring back catalogues. Plus, there were Ikea guys wandering around with baskets full of chocolate! Well, at least they were wandering around until I took a handful. After that, they all disappeared.

Inside it was just a regular Ikea store, except that everything was written in Japanese and it was so crowded that I kept hitting people with my huge yellow bag. Since I was there to buy a rug, this made the process a little more difficult. Where was this, "Maketopurasu" that I was supposed to pick the thing up at?? And how was I going to carry it through this many people?!