The first few days when we were in Tokyo, we used to visit the store near Tokiwadai to do our shopping or just for passing time. As Mrs. Toyoda brought us to Ikebukuro by train, after that we also visited Ikebukuro quite often. But it was not convenient for us to go to Ikebukuro because we had to go by train.

On the fifth day after we arrived in Tokyo, which was on 9th June night, Mrs. Toyoda visited us at the apartment. She told us that there were also stores at Kami-Itabashi and Maenocho. After that night, we did not go to Ikebukuro anymore, instead we went to Kami-Itabashi. As we would go back to Singapore tomorrow, and we had not been to the store in Maenocho, therefore we went there around 10.30 this morning. There was an Izumiya Store at Itabashi-ku, the distance was a little far.

That Store was bigger than the others we had been to. Solomon and me were not interested in the ladies clothing, so we went to other departments and let mama enjoyed herself in the Ladies Department. We would meet again one hour later.

Solomon bought a small stationery bag. He saw his classmates owned the same bag and would also like to have one. I did not encourage him to buy branded goods, but he was not interested in other items. Therefore I decided to buy the stationery bag for him. I saw a round-neck shirt together with a short pant and the price was reasonable. I bought that suit for myself. We left the Store at almost two o'clock in the afternoon.

Made in China

We walked from Maenocho to Kami-Itabashi. At the 100-Yen Shop in the shopping mall, we bought some items we liked.

Some of the goods were worth to buy. 100 yen were equivalent to 1.5 dollars. In Singapore, the goods sold at Daiso, the Japanese Store, are two dollars each.

After staying a few days in Tokyo, I realised that the cost of living in Tokyo was higher than that in Singapore. But some goods were cheaper than that in Singapore. It might be the manufacturer had the factory in China, where labour cost was lower and manufacturing cost was lower for mass production.

I found that many goods were ¡uMade in China¡v.
Just a month ago, China and Japan were not in good relation. There were many young people in China held demonstrations. They appealed to boycott buying Japanese goods.
Let us think about it.
Would the demonstrations improve the relationship between China and Japan?
Would the people earn the living from the demonstrations?
How much the young people do well to the Chinese Government by demonstrating?
I ever read the books ¡u®a¡N¬K¡N¬î¡v(Home, Spring, Autumn) written by Ba-Jin. There were also demonstrations by the young students in the books. Although that was a story, but from the demonstrations in Ba-Jin's story and those happened last month, I felt that the young people in China were not as good as those days.

A month ago, I called Mr. Toyoda and asked him not to go to Shanghai at that time. He invested in Shanghai and also traveled between Shanghai and Tokyo very often. Mr. Toyoda thanked me and told me not to be worried. He said that he had friends in Shanghai. After a few days after the call, the situation was not improved and he decided not to go.

Sometimes I was annoyed when some of the China people scolded me. I was angry. I thought that the young people in China must try to understand their recent history. How the People Republic was formed? They thought they loved their country very much. They were over-done. They did not know who supported their country to be stable. Just less than 60 years, they did not even know how their country survived. What would be happened when the country grows stronger!

When the People Republic was formed, our ancestor support their leader in spite of offending another great person whom had to stay at the lonely island. It was now stable in the country. Those young people who did not go through the hardship and did not try to understand the past. Or did they have an opportunity to understand? When a few arrogant idiots insulted me, I imagined how our ancestor felt when he met Mao and Jiang in the other world?
(ºq¥\¹|¼w) Singing the praises of the Great Man. (¶¼¤ô«ä·½) When you drink water, think of its source. (§Ñ®¦­t¸q) Devoid of gratitude. Those were what Chinese familiars with.

Resident Handbook

After spending two hours in Kami-Itabashi, we walked to Tobu Store in Tokiwadai. I bought a box of cooked red-bean rice in Kami-Itabashi. Solomon bought the dumping in Tobu Store. We also bought our dinner in Tobu Store.

Before getting back to the apartment, we stopped at the Small shop next to the hospital. We would go back to Singapore tomorrow. If I did not buy the shirt I liked. There would not be any chance for me to buy anymore. I shouted in the shop and the owner came from upstairs. The owner said that he saw me a few days ago. I bought one of the shirts I liked very much. There were a few more shirts I liked. But there was only light green in colour. I preferred shirt in white, light blue, light pink or beige.

When we went back to the apartment, I found a book and a map of Tokiwadai in the drawer. The book is the handbook for residents living in Tokiwadai. The map is in very detailed showing roads and shops of Tokiwadai. The handbook is published for those foreigners who stay in Tokiwadai. It provided information of way of life for foreigners to live happily with the people in Tokiwadai. The information included the public facilities, help for emergence, activities organised by the neighbourhood, etc. When we moved in to the apartment, I did not open the drawer. Otherwise, this handbook and the map would be very useful for us.

Dinner Prepared by Mrs. Toyoda

Mrs. Toyoda called us at 6.15 p.m. She said that Mr. Toyoda would be waiting for us at the ground floor of the apartment at 6.30 and would bring us to their house for dinner.

Mr. Toyoda came by bicycle. After meeting us, he walked with us to their house. We left our bags in their house and Mr. Toyoda brought us to his factory. It was within a short walking distance. It took us only about five minutes to reach the factory. Although it was already 7 p.m., we saw Toyoda's brother, nephew, worker and customer still discussing about work in the factory. When Mr. Toyoda introduced us to them, they stopped the discussion. We took a few pictures. In order not to interrupt them, Mr. Toyoda brought us to the office. After staying in the office for a while, we went back to his house for dinner.

Mrs. Toyoda prepared the dinner. She cooked many dishes and there were many dishes of vegetables. I was very pleased that she cooked many vegetarian foods because she knew that I was a vegetarian. This is the first time we tasted foods cooked by Mrs. Toyoda. Very delicious!

Before taking dinner, Mr. Toyoda brought me to upstairs. He was printing the pictures that we had just taken in the factory. He also took the pictures we took in the nightclub and asked me to keep them. He might not wish that our wives downstairs saw them and be unhappy. He also showed me the uniform wore by the Red Guard that presented by his Chinese friend. He kept a lot of album of girls. I wanted to tell him that go home early when he went to nightclub with friend after meeting. As we usually communicate with writing and Mrs. Toyoda was asking us to go down for dinner, so I did not have a chance to tell him.

The Precious Gifts

After dinner, we took melons. Mr. Toyoda told me that he treasured the gifts we gave to them. He especially mentioned the set of gifts with the VCD of the Cultural Revolution. He also got ready a bag of gifts for us. He took out the gifts one by one from the bag and explained to us what they were.

He purposely made a frame for us. There was a status of Mount Fuji in the frame. Above the status, there was a logo of Rotary Club. And below the status, there was a piece of engraved metal with the following words.