what do you see?

Didn't do much last weekend except to go to the Immigration Office for our re-entry permits - now we can leave Japan and return as many times as we want without losing our visa. The office was a stupendously ugly, 8-floor concrete edifice, which seemed like it had come straight out of 1970s communist China or something. Actually a lot of Tokyo is stupendously ugly, but incredibly interesting and appealing nevertheless.



Anyway...we saw quite a few more foreigners than usual - mostly English soccer fans (hooligans?) I think...please let the World Cup be over soon! We had our first (and last) experience of eating octopus - very small pieces encased in some kind of batter which we bought by accident. Not too bad, but a bit too like mildly fishy rubber for my liking...also went to a couple of new areas of Tokyo - even more bizarre than ever. Took a few photos with a disposable camera - hopefully we'll be able to send some pictures or better still get them scanned and emailed around. We also visited the "Sake Information Centre" where you can try 5 kinds of sake for free, and mark down your preference on a postcard which will then be sent back to you with an indication of how good your palate is...we wait the results with bated breath. We also walked quite a long way up the (Edogawa) river on Monday evening, reaching bridge after bridge, looking up river to see...more bridges, more urban sprawl...fading to grey in the distance. But also the most bright red sunset I've ever seen - red like a traffic light in colour!



Accidentally bumped into a businessman at the station the other evening...he just made a long, low grunting sound, and then said in a strange voice "What are you doing?" (in English!) as he walked off...!


And the students keep on coming, and get no less strange...

Sorry about the delay, I forgot to get off the train at the right stop last Thursday, and couldn't be bothered to go back for emailing...

So a long entry today: first Kamakura (last Monday). This was cool - basically an old town peppered with loads of vey old temples and shrines etc. less than an hour from Tokyo station. We only saw the East half of the town during the afternoon that we were there, but that included the largest temple in the town, with one building of about 700 years old, dwarfed by a giant ginko tree which is reputed to be even older...the more devout visitors here were tossing coins into a hopper, clapping and muttering prayers. The grounds of the temple are laid out very strictly and include two huge lilyponds, teeming with massive, fat carp and some turtles...there were loads of schoolkids around this whole area so after we ate our bento we headed off through the back streets and found some more peaceful places. We were able to go into one of the temples (shoes off for walking on the tatami mats) for only 100 yen (55p/75 cents) which was really interesting....lots of statues and incense burning, and a couple of old monks making stuff.

We also walked up a wooded hill and found some scarey cave shrines in the hillside, still visited regularly by the look of the flowers and food offerings (anything from an orange to a can of soda!) that were left there!

Saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time from the grey (volcanic sand?) beach just before getting dinner at Freshness Burger "Coffee, burgers (cake)". Cool place, will go back soon for the West side (giant buddha, more temples and the Amish Restaurant).

Had a good night out last night - a leaving do for a woman from my school and her husband from another school, in a private room. Lots of people from the different places came, including some students(!) and Japanese staff. The female staff for some reason had been named Rachel Jenkins and Sara Evans - real name Satomi. We also met a Kate...and were given our own Japanese names. I'll tell you them next time, have forgotten them now. So anyway, we spent a while there and had our first karaoke experience (My Way anyone?!) before heading off sharpish when the room charge started going up steeply...if you exceed 2 hours, 500 yen each for the next half hour including a drink, then after that 2000 yen each for another half hour (no drink), then 10,000 yen for the group after that...!

That's all for now, back into Tokyo tomorrow so should have some more stories to tell soon.

While in London, Elsevier sucked my brain dry and I rarely dreamed. Here I dream again...a couple of nights ago I dreamed I was in a strange Japanese town with lots of foreigners around, and a few grey stone English pubs with signs hanging outside and everything. I went into one, sat at the bar and ordered a half of ale. It was fantastic, smooth, creamy, and not fizzy...last night the dream was of owning some kind of pet eel/cat/hamster being.



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Here's a poem which is printed on a cigarette vending machine at Tsudanuma railway station:

"Tobacco Vendor"

The infinite skies reflect the innocence in your eyes.
Your greenish hair flows as the wind blows from the ocean.
Waves and bubbles speak in riddle. In faraway forests in the wind evergreen branches whisper to you.
Breeze and ... caress the leaves and your pale ears hear the birds singing of the twilight dream.
You're lost in a sweet storm of a shimmering mosaic of flowers. What a kaleidoscope!
You're floating through the reaches of serenity, where time never slips away from your palm.
When people love mother nature, she in turn returns their love in full.

Back of a t-shirt (in large bright pink lettering): "Recently I am particularly worried about it"

Another small earthquake/tremor at 5am this morning, just enough to wake us up and make a photo frame fall off the TV...the weather people are still adamant that the rainy season has not yet come, we're just having wet weather...It should get drier this week.

Other news: Christine has managed to change her schedule so she will also get Sunday/Monday off the same as me...starting in June.

went to central Tokyo on Monday and saw the Imperial Palace (from outside the fat walls), and the moats with carp and turtles swimming in them. This is a few yards away from the busy streets and skyscrapers of the area which is probably equivalent to the City of London. had lunch under some weird tiny pine trees until the massive crows scared us too much and we left. after that we ended up walking right around the grounds and found ourself in Ginza. there are some really good food shops and stalls under the railway lines nearby and we finally got to have some cheap and cheerful conveyer belt sushi, and then a couple of drinks in an izakaya.

now addicted to a 30 second musical cartoon which is on every weekday at 8.54am, featuring some kind of kebab and other objects like a rock, a turnip, a cat and a hot dog.

PS - i think rainy season is coming...

been blooming freezing since last time, bit warmer today finally. i'm armed with some donuts from mister donut, back in the basement again.

we don't feel that far away somehow. It doesn't feel quite as foreign as we thought most of the time...but then suddenly you'll walk round a corner and see an old woman of probably about 101 riding an ancient bicycle carrying an umbrella, or you'll pass a stall selling octopus(es) and get a bit confused...

"I just want to try to romp in the sky freely"

Turns out it was an earthquake after all - very short and small, but our first one. Not bad really...

PS - sunny, up to about 28C today...!

(Basement of Daeie, Ichikawa city, free internet cafe next to a huge Pachinko parlor...)
Sorry I haven't kept in touch much, will try harder from now on!

It's still Golden Week, for another 2 days. A time when people picnic in car parks and on fields, set up barbecues, play baseball and drink. Quite a lot it seems.
We thought we had a small earthquake last night, but it turned out to be the wind shaking the house a bit. I guess the houses are supposed to move here!
Found a massive temple in our town last week, with a huge bell, and lots of trees and space around it.

That's all for now...