It's been a kinda strange weekend. Despite being ridiculously tired, I went to badminton at night. I played quite badly, but managed to test Darrell's tips out a little. I got a few good winners in when returning serve, putting the shuttle exactly where I wanted it to be. The same old problems in my game cropped up though - my smashing was terrible (I can't seem to get any power!) and nearly 90% of my dropshots went into the top of the net. Lol. I need to get rid of the bad habit of not using enough force when playing those shots :) I'll get there in the end, though!

After badminton I stupidly stayed up very late, despite promising myself I wouldn't. Another bad habit I need to get rid of :) The result was that I overslept badly and woke up very late, way too late to go to Osaka. I was a bit annoyed, but I only had myself to blame and I knew it. Again, I'll get there in the end :) So instead of Osaka, as I posted previously, I stayed at home and zipped around the net. And ended up buying that new computer, haha. Good times. I was surprisingly tired despite the large amount of sleep I got, so went to bed at a reasonable time for a change.

Today I was up and off and got to Osaka just before 1pm. I quickly went to Yodabashi Camera, an absolutely *enormous* electronics store just opposite JR Osaka station. To my delight, they had the tripod I was after, a Manfrotto 055PRO, on display. Unfortunately, they didn't have any stock of it behind the counter. Ironically, they didn't have the tripod head I wanted (486 RC2) on display, but they did have it behind the counter. Grrr. Rather disappointed, I checked around for similar tripods and found one, thankfully. It was the next model down, the 055CL, but the only difference appeared to be the ability to mount the tripod arm horizontally. I didn't really think I'd use that functionality all that much, so I decided I'd just grab the 055CL. On the way out, I also bagged a new 2GB card for my camera. I've got 2GB worth of 1GB cards at the moment, but it's not really enough when I can't d/l photos every day. Thanks to the Yodabashi point system, this was free, woohoo! :D

From there I zoomed my way out to Blossom, the outlet store I'd been to the week before. I spent about 2 hours there, and with the help of a very dedicated store person, got everything I needed for Hokkaido. I picked up a new pair of waterproof boots, a new waterproof winter jacket, a fleece, some thick socks and thermal underwear, a balaclava and a pair of water resistant trousers. Good times. Certainly set me back enough, but I've learnt that if you want good stuff, you have to be prepared to pay for it - and it's worth it. I should get many years of wear out of this stuff. As it was far too bulky to carry home, I got the guy to have it delivered for me. He even offered to throw my tripod into the box, even though I hadn't bought it there, haha. Japanese stores are just too kind =) So that should all rock up on Tuesday night (I hope). So long as it turns up before Thursday night, it should be all good - otherwise I'm screwed for Hokkaido, hehe.

It was about 5pm by the time I finished up at Blossom, and randomly checking my phone, found a message from Junko, the girl I was supposed to meet for lunch last week. She was free, so I organised to catch up with her for a coffee in Sannomiya. It was nice to finally meet her, but at the same time, it was a really strange experience. She's about to leave Sannomiya to return to live and work in Nagoya. Which is over 4.5 hours away from Ako. I've never really met anyone for the first time, only to find out I may never see them again. Hehe. Anyway, story of my life with 'Junko's, I guess, lol - they're always too far away!

That said, it was nice just chilling with her. We grabbed a coffee at a cool little place at Sanno station, then wandered down to Mosaic at the Kobe Port. As it was so cold, we grabbed another coffee there before saying goodbye and heading home. I got back around 11pm - a little bit of a late one for a Sunday, but it was worth it :)

Just four days of school this week before I fly off to Yuki Matsuri. I'm really looking forward to it, it should be a lot of fun. Can't wait to catch up with my friends, snowboard for the first time, take lots of photographs and try out the new cold climate gear, hehe.