Luckyvegetable

It’s the morning of our second day in Japan, and it’s a testament to the pace that we’ve been going at that we’re having our ‘restful day’ on our second day here.
We arrived in the evening and were met by my brother, looking severely blond in the crowd (this is from a bottle, he is channeling Paris Hilton, clearly…) after a train journey of about an hour or so (which is just the thing after a 13 hr journey) we arrived in the suburb of Oji, where my brother lives, and walked for another 10 or so minutes till we got to my brother’s very spacious apartment, in which two, or maybe even three mice, could easily stretch out and relax. Yup, it’s little. It’s soooo little. To give you an idea, it’s about a third of the size of our flat in Parkdale. But hey, it’s free, and clean, and we get to see Slate (though he may regret this in time..) so I’m not complaining.
Once we dumped our bags, had a shower using my brother’s patented ‘modesty curtain’ (a cheapy tatami mat that we dangle from a hook in front of the see through shower door) we decided, well, as it’s only 11pee emm, lets get on our bikes (literally, he’s got three) and ride on down into town for drinkies and nosh.
We ended up at a very nice little ‘pub’ where we sat on the floor and ate tapas style with lovely Japanese pickles, rice and noodley goodness items, accompanied by giant mugs of falling down water.

I have discovered Japanese ‘sour’ drinks, which are huge, not really sour, and make me happy. This is a good thing, but slightly less so when I then have to get back on a wobbly fold up bike and ride around the neighbourhood…. hehe…but it was funny…very funny.
Yesterday, our first real day here, was spent riding the rails and getting to grip with the metro system. We covered a lot of ground, walked up and down a lot of hills, and got a lot of sunburn. ouch.

I’ve seen a lot of strange things already, and am expecting to see many many more, but one overriding factor that I can see, is that so many things here are CUTE, or geared towards being cute. The shops are cute, the food is cute, the clothes are cute, the people are cute. It all gathers together to make something strange and a bit out there, because at home, it’s not really an acceptable pastime, just being cute, but here it’s A CALLING.

Today we’re going to get back on the bikes and ride around the neighbourhood, and see if we can find some parks and photo opportunities. Michael is having no trouble with this, and my brother and I often have to double back to find him crouched in some corner or another, getting that ‘perfect shot’

Ok, that’s enough for now, I have some sunburn to go and work on, and my little wheely folding companion is waiting to show me the sights =)
Big Love,

Lucky