Penny for your thoughts

What does one do with guests when it is pouring down rain?  We head to the museum!  My cousins asked to go to a fashion museum, so we headed out to go to Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum in Shinjuku.  Affiliated with Bunka Fashion College, Bunka Fashion Graduate University, and more, it holds four exhibitions a year all with the same theme, "Understanding the Culture of the World and Japan through Clothing".  We were so excited to go to this museum.  Our hearts were heavy when we arrived after trudging through a downpour to learn they were closed for transitioning the exhibit!  It was not listed on the website that they were closed.  The sign just inside the locked door explained the museum reopens the day after they leave.  We had gone all that way for disappointment. 

I did not have an alternative plan.  Since the sky was letting loose, I didn't want to just head outside and wander around and I was not having luck searching for a different museum in close proximity that we wanted to go to.

We decided to go shopping (a favorite activity of many girls their age).  We saw lots of Japanese fashions as we wandered through the department stores inside Shinjuku Station.

One of my cousins said she really wanted to buy a wallet similar to mine.  Since Japan is a cash based society, people carry around cash.  Coins are plentiful in Japanese currency.  6 coins with values of ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, and ¥500, meaning the first bill doesn't start until ¥1,000.  She had seen how the coin holder in my wallet fully opened to reveal all my coins and wanted the same design.  It didn't take us long to find her the perfect wallet, including the desired coin holder.

Once we were back home, we dried off and watched a movie.  Soon it was time to prepare dinner.  I have been enjoying teaching my cousins to cook various Japanese dishes.  Tonight I taught one of them to cook oyakodonburi.  They are both eager to learn and it has been delightful watching them take on the challenge.

Our day might not have turned out the way we thought - but that is just a fact of life.  It happens more than I'd like.  Instead of just heading home, we made the best of it.  We were still able to explore and enjoy the city, as well as have a great time at home in the evening.