Home > Focus on Japan 2003 > Another Costco Haul

Another Costco Haul

July 13th, 2003

As you can see, I’ve been shopping again at the Tama Sakai Costco, near Hashimoto Station on the Yokohama and Keio Sagamihara lines.

This time much of it is fixings for a fireworks party next Sunday (if the rain will give us a break!). The fireworks display is nicely viewable out my dining room window; last year a half-dozen folks came for the party (though it was in October then).

Got some four-cheese ravioli (yum), walnuts (should be for cooking, but they’re great for snacking), limes, mints, Picante Sauce (like a thin salsa), some wine and liqueur, buns (for some polish dogs I got previously), and an apple pie (much better than the rather lame pecan pies they had a year ago, not surprisingly discontinued).

And you probably noticed the DVD player–region-free (you can play both U.S. and Japanese DVDs in it), and cheap–just about 10,000 yen.

The problem in that store is not buying stuff.

Getting it home can be problematic… They have delivery service, but it is based in Kanagawa and serves people in that prefecture best. It’s OK for really big hauls, but for ones like this–just bring your own bags, backpacks, and other goods for schlepping stuff around.

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  1. UltraBob
    July 13th, 2003 at 13:18 | #1
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    Hey Luis,

    I bought that same DVD player (I think) a while ago at Costco, and the multiregion settings didn’t work for me. Does it work ok for you?

  2. Luis
    July 13th, 2003 at 13:24 | #2
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    I bought a player a week ago, upon the reassurance by the clerk that it was region-free, but when I brought it home, it only played region 2, as you note. So I called them up; they assured me that it was indeed supposed to be region-free, and if it didn’t work, bring it back for exchange. I did so (the photo you see is of the second one, that I got in exchange), and it does indeed work.

    I thought I was just unlucky to get a bad unit, but if it happened to you too, maybe it’s more than just a sometimes thing.

    I don’t know how long ago you got it or if you still have the receipt, but call them up and ask if you can exchange it. They even offered to test it out for me at the store (I declined, and I guess was lucky).

  3. Steve
    July 13th, 2003 at 18:24 | #3
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    You mentioned the delivery service based in Kanagawa, but have you heard of “The Flying Pig”?
    http://www.theflyingpig.com/
    They are based out of Fukuoka, and you can order items from their web site and they do the shopping (at Costco) and shipping for you. Pretty reasonable for those of us who are out of range of a store, or don’t want to pay the annual membership fee.
    (The fees I pay to The Flying Pig for their service amounts to far less than the combination of Costco’s membership and travel to and from their nearest location.)

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