Happy New Year!

Last night I went back to the shrine that I'd visited last year. I wanted to return the omikuji or "written oracle" that I had been keeping in my wallet and pull a new one for the coming year. After holding onto it for a year you're supposed to return the omikuji to the shrine so the priests can burn them and release the luck gods . . . or something like that. This year I pulled a "No luck". . . shoot. So I followed the tradition of tying it to a tree to reverse any negative effect it might have on my luck. I don't really believe that these fortunes write my destiny, but there's no harm in doing it anyway :)

And on the way home, it snowed. More like a slight flurry, actually. But it was the first snow I've seen this winter (hello global warming?), and a great way to start the first hours of the new year. Incidentally it's the Year of the Rat, and I have no idea how that affects us. If you have time, check the placemat at a Chinese restaurant (I think that might only be an American thing... I've never come across that in Japan or China).

Then this morning I tried something new I've never done before. I got up earlier than my body wanted to (that's not the new part) . . . then drove into Oita City to be a part of the crowd of people eagerly waiting to rush into Forus (a department store in downtown Oita) the moment it opened.

Big stores prepare a limited number of special "Grab Bags" full of stuff that are sold for a super cheap price only on the first of the year, and you see scenes on the news of huge crowds fervently shoving their way into store buildings as soon as the doors open on January 1st. But there wasn't as big of a crowd as I was hoping to experience, and a quick walk to one of my favorite stores was enough time to get there before all the bags were sold out. And there were some "Agate" bags - a brand that makes a lot of stuff that I like! Last week I saw a sign advertising which brands had prepared Grab Bags and what kinds of things might be in them, and a lot of it was stuff I might not like. But finding Agate bags was a pleasant surprise.

There were red, white, black, and brown bags... supposedly each containing different styles. I took a moment to ponder which one to get, but not too long because wild hands were grabbing for bags and they were disappearing fast. $600 of merchandise stuffed into bags being sold for $100. I heard the clerk saying the brown ones had the most stuff in them so I grabbed one, figuring more stuff means a better likelihood of liking something in there. I'm not much of a risk taker and it seemed best to even out my odds than try for a bag with only a few items and having it be a hit or miss.

It was my first time and I had no idea what to expect. What if they fill the bags with junk that they couldn't sell last year? What if I paid a hundred bucks only to find the bag full of pink furry coats and shirts sparkling with glitter? So I only bought one. A brown one, the one sitting closest to me.When I got home I opened the bag to find that everything was brand new, and still wrapped in the plastic! I sort of assumed that stores sell them cheap because it's old stuff they couldn't get rid of, but looks like I was totally wrong!I love EVERYTHING. What a great bargain. Take a look at my spoils of war... What a cute shirt! The back says "Life works" in fancy calligraphic lettering, in case I ever start having suicidal tendencies. I absolutely love this one. In shiny gold lettering it says, "Mud looks good on me. Supermodels are hot. Yes. They're all beautiful and slim. Save a horse. Ride a cowgirl."Sexy clubbing shirt, if I ever go to Osaka or Fukuoka for the night scene.Nice versatile shirt for work or play! I'm not sure what I think of the wrinkles though. It was twisted into knots and tied up with a rubber band to keep the wrinkles, but I'll probably end up ironing it out.A wrinkly plaid shirt... and the perfect color! I donated all my flannel plaid shirts from my university days to the Salvation Army, and now that plaid is in again I regret having done so. Now I'm one step closer to having my collection reborn.A sparkly, glittery scarf is cool, but too dressy for me. I can't think of an occasion I'd wear it to. Probably the least useful thing in the bunch, but I still love it.A dressy velvet jacket that I could wear with the sparkly scarf, if only there were some occasion I could wear it to. Maybe I should try working part-time at a host bar.And for the final item... the one that makes the $100 price tag totally reasonable and the one I'll probably get the most use out of... the black puffy coat. It's just amazing. Last week I realized how popular puffy coats have become and started wanting one. I looked around in a few shops but didn't come across one I liked, and now I get the perfect one in a grab bag. The fur on the hood is just the right length and the perfect softness, too. Some of the ones I tried made my neck itchy or made me feel like an eskimo.Conclusion: Agate Grab Bags are fantastic! Well worth the money and I'm definitely picking one up again next year.

Actually I also bought a Grab Bag from the store next to the one that sold the Agate bags. They sold accessories. I've been wanting some kind of necklace... I figured leaving it to luck might be a great way to get something without having to shop around and deliberate over hundreds of pendants.

When I got home I opened this bag, too, and compared to my excitement over the Agate stuff this one was a total disappointment. It was full of stuff I'll never use. Sure it's a good deal for the price I paid, but if you can't use it it's crap; it doesn't matter how expensive the original price might be.




When am I gonna wear a pendant of a pot leaf?

Nice earrings. Too bad I don't have holes for them.

An unengraved pendant. I doubt I'll ever get around to having something put onto it.

As keychains go, this one's pretty cool. You can only see the front half of a person bending over, and the other half is hidden behind the cardboard. Too bad I don't use keychains - too many things on the ring take up too much space in my pocket.

A shiny linked chain, but doesn't match anything I'd wear. I guess I could use it with the velvet jacket and shiny scarf?

Back in university I seriously thought about getting a tatoo of the Mars-male symbol on my foot - the side facing you when you stand and look down at your feet, midway between the ankle-foot bend and the toes. Unfortunately (luckily?) the shops I went to didn't want to put a tatoo there because of the time it takes to heal (too much movement of the skin) and if the ink didn't stain well it wouldn't look very good, reflecting poorly on the person who inked it. So I remain tatoo-less. The downside of this pendant - it points downward, resembling the Venus-female symbol, or a flower. Too bad the link to the chain isn't in the middle of the piece.

Conclusion: Grab bags from accessory shops suck. Total waste of money. I only sort of liked one thing, and it would have been cheaper to just buy that one instead of a whole bag full of junk. And if given the option of choosing from among a bunch of other pendants, I'd probably find one that I liked better.

But aside from the accessory Grab Bag, all in all it was a great first day. I also bought a pizza oven (yes, it's just for making pizza and came with a baking stone!) and had a nice time people-watching at Park Place. I found some Mossimo Grab Bags there and even though I like a lot of what Mossimo comes out with, the $200 price tag was too much of a gamble for me.

That is all.