Place: Lapia Mall In Hachinohe

I have wanted a dog my entire life. More than anything. My mother jokes that I said the word "dog" before "mom." Unfortunately, my views on dogs did not align with my mother's so I never got one. Now that Gizmo is no longer with us, my dog search is in full force. I really wanted to adopt, but that doesn't seem like much of a possibility due to our location on the island. So the options are the Shimoda Mall or the Lapia Mall in Hachinohe.

The Shimoda dogs were expensive, and I had heard the ones in Hachinohe were cheaper so I planned a Saturday visit. I entered the small green building and found this to be true. They also had about twice as many dogs as Shimoda. As I mentioned in my post about Shimoda, you aren't allowed to take pictures of the animals for some reason, but I got a little sneakier in Hachinohe and snapped one of the little guys.

Would you like a home, fluffy friend?

After visiting the pet store and making mental notes on potentially suitable new friends, we headed into the actual mall. I chugged Rockstar as if the answer to life was at the bottom of the can, so I really had to pee when we got inside. That's when I found this little contraption:

I have more buttons than your universal remote. 

I closed the door and just stared at it for a little bit. Hanging next to it (not pictured) were instructions on how to clean the seat with the provided hand sanitizer. Don't mind if I do. They should have that in the United States, especially those gas stations where you feel the need to shower afterwards. I go about my business and look at the buttons. One looks like a fountain. I know what that means and I wasn't ballsy enough to test it out.

After a successful battle with the most high tech toilet I've ever seen, we make our way through the mall. Lapia is a weird little mall. The stores all run together like one giant store. The slight change in aisles is usually the only indication you've crossed into a new store. 

Standing on the store line.

But I have to admit, I am in LOVE with all the Japanese stuff. The little cartoon characters are so cute and happy, it makes me smile. So while I left the mall puppy-less, at least I got some crazy glitter pens and a cute  pencil holder. The zipper tag on the pencil holder says, "Won't you live in ease?" Yes. Yes, I will.

And since I went somewhere, you know there's more Lost In Translation pictures.