Deliciously Me

My boots peeled skin in Kyoto.

Or more to my friend’s boots peeled.

I borrowed my friend’s boots and wore it for my Japan trip. I have my own boots that I bought from China, but the bottom padding came off so I thought why not wear my friend’s since hers looks durable and warmer.

Little did I know the skin cracked while I boarded plane heading to Kuala Lumpur. Freaked out, I quickly informed my friend on this and she being such a sweet person told me not to worry about that and enjoy my holiday.

Obviously I got super tension and quickly put Vaseline on the surface to lessen the crack.

Well, it did work but not for long. It began to peel a little after reaching Kansai International Airport. Initially I bear with the peeling as it wasn’t that much.

Then one big patch came off and revealed the inner material which is lighter in colour. I realised people did take a glimpse on my boots but I ignored them and acted dumb.

By day 4, the peeling became worst prolly due to the extreme weather and the amount of walking that we did and I decided that’s it – time to get a new pair.

I told Satkuru this and he was so happy to hear that. He told that I should do that long time ago but judging from our itinerary, we didn’t have any extra time for shopping until day 4.

So, after visiting the last place in Nara, we went to the Nara Family Mall near Yamato-Saidaiji station and scouted around. Initially we walked into the Kintetsu department store but the price of the shoes there really put me off.

It then drew to me that we were looking at branded shoes and hence the high price. So I dragged Satkuru out to the AEON store which is situated in the Nara Family Mall too.

As we walked towards AEON, we spotted rows and rows of shoes on our left and I stopped to check out the price. The price is affordable plus there are varieties of shoes to choose from, so I signaled Satkuru in.

I spotted 1000yen boots and proudly showed Satkuru that I managed to find a cheaper shoes! Both Satkuru and I were already deciding on which boots to get when I was thinking when I will be using this boots again. I told Satkuru my concern and he agreed. We put back the boots and went to look for covered shoes or sport shoes.

I was walking past by the counter when I saw the Nike was on display with price tag Y3980. Mind did quick calculation and realised it was few bucks cheaper. I showed Satkuru this and he immediately said he wanted one too. Haha!

So I asked for assistant on getting the right size. Apparently in Japan, the shoes sizes are in CM, not the usual US or UK size. Since I wear size 5, I asked for 23cm size. The lady who assisted me is very friendly and always smiling. She came back with broad smile, kneed beside me (I was sitting on the sofa that time) and passed me the shoes which I tried and it fitted. But to be on safe side, I asked for 24cm.

24cm is loose for me and it almost came off when I walk. So I told her I want the 23cm and Satkuru paid for it.

I found something interesting at the cashier counter. Like usual, the cashier scanned the barcode attached to the shoes and then the amount displayed on the cash machine. Satkuru placed a Y10000 note on the blue tray which the cashier gave back Y6020.

Then the cashier took a rag and wiped the shoe soles and the white edge clean before putting them into a silver plastic bag.

This really impressed me as I’ve never seen anyone wipes the sole back in Malaysia. The Japanese are really attentive.

Since I plan to wear the shoes that instant, I asked the smiling lady to remove the barcode. She spoke in very fast and fluent Japanese which I couldn’t really catch but luckily, Satkuru remembers his Japanese lesson well and caught the word ‘hasami’ in her sentences. He immediately replied ‘hai’ and she cut off the barcode string using scissors attached to her lanyard.

Then the lady spoke again in another long Japanese sentence which I got lost again. Suddenly Satkuru turned to me and told me she asked if I want to keep the boots and let her throw the boots on my behalf. I replied ‘iie’ and she acknowledged.

I was amazed that Satkuru could understand the Japanese lady well. He said the lady mentioned few phrases that he learnt years ago, therefore able to catch what she meant. I patted my dear Satkuru on his back for his good memory.

As we walked out, I asked him what happened to him getting his Nike shoes. He said he did check with the lady earlier but according to her the largest size they have is 30cm (size 11). He concluded that he could easily find his size in States, European country or in Australia, but not in Japan. I laughed and consoled him by saying that we’ll get his Nike soon.

Throughout the rest of the trip I fondly call my Nike as Ni-ke, lol.