Eri has a hidden talent for seeing shoes that she likes, trying them on and liking them, procrastinating about buying them and upon finally deciding to do so, discovering that they have sold out. She had a bad experience a few years ago with a pair of Miu Miu boots, and the other week we saw a pair of Nike x Liberty Dunks that she (and I), really liked and when we returned to the shop to buy them, found they too had sold out. Yesterday, on going to the Nike Store in Kichijoji, we were pleased to see that they had started to stock them there too, after not having had them when I went to check the other week. I really like these. We're just trying to work out whether to keep the white laces or change to the included purple pair. Decisions, decisions.
Incident 1: On Tuesday evening, I had just finished a jog (stagger) round the local park and was walking down one of the little backstreets that leads from the park back to my house. Just up the road were three large crows, the type that can often be seen loitering on the streets of Tokyo. Crows in Tokyo are everywhere and are huge. This is due to an incident in the 60's where nuclear waste was spilled on a pile of rubbish which was then eaten by some crows that mutated and caused a race of mecha-crow that killed all the normal crows and now rule all of Tokyo. They can be seen every money ripping apart rubbish bags, extorting lunch money from little kids and mugging old women.
This time, one crow was walking down the road and the other two were sitting on telephone wires on either side. As I approached, they started squarking, much more than usual. I chuckled to myself, not realising the Tippi Hedren danger I was in, and walked on until I was anout 20 feet from the crow in the middle of the road. Suddenly, I heard a massive swooosh and felt wings hitting my head, as one of the two crows divebombed me from behind and flew only centimeters above me. No sooner had I ducked, pointlessly late, when again, with a swoooosh, the other crow narrowly missed me. A little spooked, I checked to see that no-one was watching, luckily they weren't, and I started walking/trotting a little faster. By now I was only a few feet from the crow on the ground, and suddenly one of the first two blitzkrieg crows swooped down, screaming as it did so and just avoided hitting me again. The crow on the ground then started jumping towards me too, and again, the third crow attacked. This time, I couldn't have given a shit who was watching and I started running off down the street. After about 30 metres, the attacks stopped and I had a chance to catch my breath, exhausted after this extra unwanted exercise. Turning round, I saw the crows attacking another guy walking down the street. Obviously braver or, perhaps, more stupid than me, he was fighting back and aiming punches at the swooping death-birds. I didn't see much after he fell and, screaming, was set upon.
Incident 2: Yesterday, on my way out of school, I was chased by a FUCKING TORNADO. That is all. I think something may be trying to tell me something...
I just wandered out of my apartment block to go and buy a yoghurt (blueberry) from the store across the street, and sheltering from the rain in the lobby of the block was Iain Lee (off the 11 O'Clock show). Now, I know that seeing Iain Lee is not exactly on a par with Tom Cruise or Hitler or whatever (sorry Iain Lee), but it properly wierded me out. I used to watch the 11 o'clock show pretty regularly, so suddenly seeing its presenter was a bit of a shock. He's tall as well, and has quite a fit missus (both of which added to the shock). He even appeared to be speaking a little Nihongo as well, to the guy who had been performing in Mandala (the live venue in the basement, which they had obviously been to see). I don't know what to think?
I guess it just wasn't what I was expecting on a rainy night in suburban Tokyo...
My bedroom is the one near the top/middle with the lights on. They started work at 9.00pm and go on until 6.00pm. This has been going on for about 2 months, but this was the first time they had been literally right under my window. I couldn't sleep at all and left the apartment to take this picture at about 2.00am. As you can see, they are still working and drilling away hard. I told one of my teachers about this and she wasn't surprised at all. I think Japan has got to be one of the few countries I've ever been to where people wouldn't bat an eyelid about it. Maybe it's just where I come from in London, but if this happened and the council had made a conscious decision to work only from 6 til 9 despite it not being a busy street, something would have happened by now. Unbearably annoying.
