When we arrived at Mishima yesterday , we rode by a store selling Apple products. It was cold and raining and we were getting close to our hotel. Nonetheless, on a whim we stopped to check it out. A bit of background: on our previous trip to Japan, we were taking a ferry to Okinawa and somehow Barry’s iPhone fell as we were riding on to the ferry. It took some searching by the crew, but they found his phone and it looked pretty grim as it had been run over by the forklifts loading cargo on the ferry. It still works…somewhat, but it is on borrowed time and the latest problem is it can’t take photos. So we will take a look. Other stores we have visited are Apple dealers but they have zero stock. Perhaps we’ll be lucky here.
And yes, they have iPhones but only the newest Apple 16 models. We had hoped to get a 14 or 15. This lovely fellow works at PC Depot and he spent a lot of time with us. It was an interesting process trying to research and possibly buy a phone without any shared language and without signing up for a contract.
Once we were able to understand that the pricing included a contract we understood why the price was so high . We had a bit of trouble making him understand that we didn’t want a contract, but once we did, he figured out a new price which was much better. One of the objects of getting a new phone for Barry is to get a good camera. We settled on the iPhone 16 Pro which has a 25x zoom. We left the phone with them to get the phone set up and the data transferred. Today, we get Barry’s phone…yeah! It was a challenge and very time consuming navigating what needed to be done, but we were very impressed with the patience and good service we received.
As predicted, today is a day of rain and it is quite cool. We found a charming cafe which offered a favourite dish we love…Nanban. Barry had the Seafood Nanban and I had the chicken. We have eaten so much lately at Konbinis, that we were amazed at what a step up it is to have fresh, home style cooking.
Our room overlooks the train station and has a view of Mt Fuji (but not today). There are two sets of tracks, one for the regular trains and one for the Shinkansen. It is fascinating to watch the Shinkansen trains zoom through at high speed while being completely silent.
It can be intimidating for foreign visitors to get involved with the culture of bathing at an Onsen. We remember when we first attended an Onsen there was so much we didn’t understand and we were determined to learn what to do and how to behave. It is such a sacred and essential part of a Japanese person’s daily life, that it is advisable to learn protocol as it would be so easy to offend locals. Brochures like this are helpful for visitors.
We had booked to stay in Mishima at the Dormy Inn for two nights because of the rain. When we leave here we will be heading south and then cutting across the Izu Peninsula to the Pacific Ocean. We will be in mountainous territory crossing the Kameishi Pass and want to ride it on a clear day. Unfortunately Barry is fighting a cold/flu bug so we have just decided to stay for a 3rd night.
