The sun came out today. As I expected, this led to a bout of absolute sweaty misery, although on the plus side, I got three loads of laundry done today.

I got a quote today from a travel company for flights to Hong Kong...120 000 yen. I think not. I will grudgingly pay those sort of inflated prices at Christmas, because what else are you going to do, but in September? My birthday is not actually a national holiday and I am not pleased with the Japanese government for trying to change that. I'd do some travelling in the country, but that is likely to be about as expensive as trying to leave.

Boo.

Now there's a sight to strike terror into the heart of sea-going folk everywhere.

Man, I really hate summer. Rainy season is officially over but that hasn't stopped it from raining for an entire week now. This sort of constant sogginess is not fun. But then, when it stops raining it gets really really hot and humid and I hate that, too. Basically I'm just dragging myself through the next two months until it is time for October. Sweet, sweet October.

I was supposed to go to fireworks on Saturday but they were cancelled. I'm not really entirely sure why, that was one of the few non-rainy days we've had. Too much cloud cover, perhaps? Also, Tomoko got really sick, so I wouldn't have been able to meet up with her. We're hoping to try again this coming weekend. Instead I went to see the new Harry Potter. I enjoyed it, but the strain of trying to fit 700 pages of densely written material into a 2 1/2 hour movie is really beginning to show.

Someone who is cleverer than me needs to make this summer raincoat:

Picture, if you will, a really long, hooded vest. Frankly, I don't need sleeves. 25 may be cool here, but I can still deal with the rain hitting my bare arms, and sleeves just make things more humid. It needs to be really long so that my legs will be protected while riding my bike, as usually the bit above my knees manages to get soaked. Maybe take the arm material and use it for extra long front flaps, instead? At least the (very expensive, whoo eee) raincoat I got while I was busy singlehandedly reviving Canada's economy in April works pretty well. It is designed for summer, so I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it is designed for a Vancouver summer, which we here like to call "early spring, maybe even still winter". But it's light and breathable and keeps at least part of dry. Now if only it were longer.

I've been meaning to write a bit more these past few days. There was the joy of finding affordable fresh blueberries and the world's weirdest eye doctor visit*, but it's been so hot and humid I Just haven't had the energy needed to form coherent sentences. All I've really been doing is watching an astonishing amount of tv (find a tv link to let you watch QI, do it now, go on, I'll wait.) Luckily there was a break in the weather today. Still humid, but overcast and a mere 26 and oh my, it felt glorious. I woke up with actual energy and went to the gym and my limbs didn't feel like a lead weight. The only real cure for natsubate is October, but I'm enjoying this remission.

The cicadas are out in full force. I must be one of the few people who doesn't mind the noise. I do, however, mind the giant insect bodies littering the roads, and I really, really mind the giant insect bodies slamming into you as you ride your bike, but the cicada noise is quite nice, really.

* I consider myself something of an expert on what goes on in eye clinics, but this was new. The first bit with the very nice nurse was reassuringly familiar, but then I met the doctor and he clipped plastic clips to my eyelashes and then taped my eyes open. Something about muscle strength? I was completely lost. The procedure ended with...it's hard to say. Lasers to the neck?

In other news, I keep forgetting to print out the forms for getting a new passport. It would be very helpful if you guys would start nagging me about that. Thanks.

Mike the Headless Chicken!

Fixed the link issue.

10:45 am. Already 34 degrees indoors. It's going to be a long, long summer.

This is the fourth sunny day in a row. I think rainy season might be over. Good news for laundry, bad news for me not melting into a puddle. And so of course I just received an email from Uniqlo shilling their new fall line. Yay! It's 30 degrees out and isn't going to get any cooler for two and a half more months! Let's all go try on sweater vests!

It's time to start counting the casualties on my balcony. The coriander put up a valiant fight, but it got covered in bugs and now it's not looking so good. The entire box containing the rosemary, lavender, and oregano is a graveyard, which is sad, but also makes me wonder if something is wrong with the soil. Surely at least one of them should have survived?

This time last year I was busy planning out my trip to Laos. This year, not so much. I do have a week off in September again, but the government decided to create a second Golden Week by moving some fall holidays around, and so the cost of tickets to escape the country for that week is astronomical. I'd really like to go visit Pauline in Hong Kong, but I have to think about the pros and cons and what I want to do for Christmas and if I can do both holidays, etc etc. Le sigh.

Noooooooooooooooo! The recession has resulted in the cancellation of the Fukuroi fireworks! Those are the only thing that make August even remotely bearable. Why? Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

So. Bacon infused vodka is a real thing. Go on, google it. You know you want to.

These little lovelies are what will hopefully help stop my plants from withering and dying while I'm on vacation. Presumably they did the job this time, although rainy season is not exactly a dangerous time to leave outdoor plants untouched for a few days.



The shoes, they were popular at the bar, oh yes they were. And it turns out that the nice thing about spending a stupid amount of money on shoes is that there is none of the blistering or rubbing or general cripplingness I generally associate with new shoes.



Kal taught me some tango basics. Well, mostly what he taught me is that if I have a good teacher, I have a shot at actually learning the basics. I will never star on "So You Think You Can Dance", though, since that level of delusion is beyond me. The most astonishing thing about this photo is that that pose did not end up with me an ungraceful heap on the floor.



Sunday was a much more low-key day, with dry ice providing the bulk of the entertainment.



I did get some exercise in while at the Sasaki's. We went for a 6 km walk around a lake. Actually, that was only half the lake, as we started and ended at the bridge that bisects it. In a few weeks, this bit of it will be a sea of pretty pink flowers. Me and my bad timing.



Keiko and Masami.



There were an astonishing amount of swans hanging out at the lake. This one decided to hang out by the path and hiss at any poor dogs that had the temerity to come within spitting distance of her and her babies.



Babies!



And human babies! I haven't seen Takahiro since New Year's, and it's amazing how much he has changed. He is currently in the "crawling very fast towards the nearest source of danger" stage, and he particularly likes to get caught under tables and chairs.




In between very cautiously taking pictures of swan babies (thank you, inventor of the zoom lens) and playing with the human baby, I managed to catch up on my reading. It took me three weeks or so to finish the first book in Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy, and about a day and a half to finish the last one. Considering the whole work totaled nearly 3000 pages, I felt like cheering when I finally finished it. It's very good, if somewhat sprawling, but there was a while in the middle of book two that I began to worry that I would never be done with it.



And, of course, it was time for another pedicure. Turns out I don't like this one as much as the last, but oh well. I like it, I just don't lurrrve it. And for those of you who roll your eyes at my foolish spending of money on pedicures and getting pictures painted on my toes, I say: "Well, at least I'm not paying several hundred dollars to get sterling silver press-on nails." I especially love that they have a "casual" category. Because, you know, you have your sterling silver nails that are appropriate for clubbing, and then there are the ones you wear when you are feeling more low-key and meeting your friends for fries at Mos Burger.



More pictures here.