I just visited one of the coolest apartments I've ever seen. 23rd floor in Roppongi, great view, nice space....even the elevator was nice, nicer than a lot of apartments I've seen in NY. (The add for the elevator would read something like: Cozy studio, high ceilings, brandnew wood coverings, fully automated. Great location, near everything. Comes with a free flatscreen monitor. Good for student. $1050 plus utilities) I need to investigate how you get apartments like that.

One thing that deeply disturbs me: I've been ordering tall cappucinos at Starbucks, assuming I'd get more espresso than in a short one. Is it possible I'm just getting more foam? Am I being charged for hot air?

Yokohama was...ok. But since I was on the Yokohama line I decided to visit Machida, a town that's legally part of Tokyo, but technically in the suburbs. I used to live near there. Machida is graet: Like a mini Shibuya without the bad energy, the people look innocent and happy, they get excited when they see me. A really cool old guy force-fed me his Ramen and while I was busy doing that he practiced his English on me and got out a little notepad with English expressions he was curious about. English is his hobby. I managed to politely decline the next bowl of Ramen and got out of there, but in general the town was really nice and welcoming. I still think Koenji is my neighbourhood of choice, but Machida is a close second. For living I mean. And for cool weird sneakers.

Good news: I managed to withdraw money from my Korean bank account. Citybank will let me do it. However, I still think that the Japanese pronounciation (shitty bank) is not unjustified.
Today I might do Yokohama.

I spent all of yesterday in Tokyo. I really like Tokyo, especially Shibuya and Shinjuku during rush hour. I know it sounds crazy.
But there are very few places I have found that have a comparably dense energy: millions of frantic commuters trying to get to their trains, rushing to get snack in the departmentstore deli, pushing, fighting being passive agressively rude and selfish, selfish, selfish.
You should try it sometime.
It is the one time when it doesn't matter if you are Japanese or Gaijin. It is about getting what you want.

It turned out to be a perfect day for going to Kamakura, cold and a weekday morning, therefore less crowded. But beautiful weather, great shrine, nice Butan flowers. Around the main tempel we found the Cafe Amish (amish cooking) which unfortunately was closed. We decided to pass up Valencia's Spanish restaurant despite the great Spaghetti set they were offering. And we didn't eat at the funny smelling ramen shop either. Instead we went to Cafe More to get something healthy, a salad maybe....
My friend ordered a Caesar salad, because at least she knew what to expect. I was more adventurous and ordered the Roat beef salad arrangement. My salad had dissapointingly few greens with it, but the roastbeef was fine. The Caesar salad turned out to be an amazing mixture of greens and seafood drenched in vinegar and sprinkled with parmesan.
It was a very beautiful day, though. Really. The canaries running aroung the monkey satue made up for everything.

It was strange on yesterday's flight....I was surrounded by Asians wearing facemasks. Most of them coughing horribly. Was it bird flu or SARS? Guess I'll find out. Current location Japan. Near Kamakura.
A very sweet little boy was on the train with me from the airport. He really wanted to make sure I got somewhere safely and when I got off the train he waited for me to make sure my friend was home and ready to get me.
Unfortunately the line was busy. So after about 10 minutes he started dragging me to the police stand so the police could help me find my friend (did I ever talk about my experience with Japanese police?). That was all very well, but I insisted on trying one more tome and this time I got through. So he maneuvered me through the gate and let me go.
I think I'll go to Kamakura today.
More later.