Today Chi went to take an English test called the eiken. I went to hang out with Sawa and U-. We went to a large game center called Round1 to go bowling.

To get our shoes we had to pull them out of locker-type machines lined up along the wall. My shoe size (28cm) was not an option. The sizes only went up to 27.5. I guess my feet are bigger than the average Japanese's :(. So we had to ask a staff member for a larger size.

I was up first. Before I could bowl my first ball, the whole room went dark and red lights started flashing alongside the lane. At Round1 they have a game where, during this period, everyone bowling finishes their frame and if the next person is able to get a strike, you win a picture and frame. I hadn't yet bowled, so it was up to me to score the strike.

I got a strike! Yay! :)

I got a strike again my 2nd frame, and then a turkey later on. So a total of 5 strikes. Even though 5/10 frames were strikes, my score only hit 130. U- got 100 and Sawa got 120. During the 2nd game, U- taught me how to spin the ball like he does. He's very good at getting his ball to spin and go where he wants it to. I tried it a lot, but mostly got gutters. I need to practice it a lot more. I don't remember the scores of the 2nd game very well, but I think U- got 120 or so and Sawa got 140. I got 80.

On the 3rd game I scored a 92. Sawa got 80 and U- got 160. My scores were low, but I got lots of strikes. 10/30 frames were strikes. I guess I was getting gutters right after my strikes. Haha.

As far as differences go between America and Japan, it seems mostly the same. One thing I did notice is that the floors (or shoes) here are much slipperier than the ones in America. I was slipping quite a bit. I saw other people slipping a lot too. It also seemed like the pins here are lighter than the ones in America (easier to knock over), but that could just be my imagination. Oh, also, it's more expensive than bowling in the states (Like everything else). It costs about $12 per game per person.

Everything here seems to cost about 3-4x as much as in the states. Food, Clothes, Entertainment, etc.

After we finished bowling and payed for our games, the cashier gave us some coins to use in the arcade. So we played some arcade games before leaving.

Then we went to the shabushabu restaurant where Chi was working. I went there last year too. We ordered the all-you-can-eat option (About $35 per person). At shabushabu restaurants you order vegetables and meats and then cook them on the table in a pot of broth. Similar to fondue. We picked on Chi a lot and I talked to Takuto (someone who works there who I met last year) for a bit. It was fun and delicious.

Sawa and U- went home. Chi is going to an izakaya and is going to stay up all night drinking with her friends Kenji and Nozomi. I came home to sleep.