I do get a kick out of watching people run for trains in Tokyo. "Oh no! If I miss this one the next one is not for TWO WHOLE MINUTES!"

Ok, let's see. Things I actually DO like about summer:

1) My laundry dries super quickly. I could even wash something in the morning and be able to wear it by afternoon, unlike in cloudier/cooler seasons, when it will hang about for days on end, and in winter when I can't tell if it is still damp or just cold.

2) Beer. Cold beer on a hot summer night is sheer bliss.

3) Fireworks. The Fukuroi ones are coming up in two weeks, I think?

4) Peanut sauce on all my food. Peanut sauce is the best thing ever. Five minutes with some measuring cups and a blender and then you can spend a week pouring peanut sauce on vegetables and rice noodles and going "there, dinner!"

None of that really makes up for the fact that it was 36 in my apartment this afternoon, though. And tonight is apparently not cooling off so far as to reach comfortable temperatures, which from now until the end of September will be classified as "dropping under 30 by midnight."

Summer is back. I suppose a three-day break is the most one can ask for without resorting to witchcraft, but it was so nice. Saturday had a ridiculous high of 22 and I sped around like a madwoman. I cleaned! I shopped! I yogaed! I made various stuff to shove in the freezer for later consumption! I did most of this while wearing long pants and not sweating! It was wonderful.

Sunday it was starting to warm up but it was still cool enough that I felt resentful about having to go to the mall. I enjoy a good mall outing well enough if I go with someone but by myself it just makes me cranky. Noisy! Crowded! Filled with expensive garments that I can't wear! I got my new swimsuit, though, and did a bit of funnish shopping, so it worked out in the end but hoo boy, was I glad to get out of there. It's a bit weird when you consider how much fun I had shopping in the malls of Hong Kong, but then, I was with Pauline and also had money to spend, plus there were several stores that carried styles and sizes that were flattering.

I finally bought a yoga mat, too. I bought a cheap one ages ago but it turned out to be utter crap. It's not very thick so it's horribly uncomfortable, and the first time I used it it was so slippery that I nearly face planted while doing down dog. It serves as a beach yoga mat but is kind of useless for everything else. Since pretty much every single yoga event I go to that it is not at the gym is with Satoe, and she is constantly driving around with a car full of mats, I've been lazy about getting one but my guilt at using her for her mats eventually got the better of me.

I went to a new (to me) yoga class at the gym today and it was much more challenging that the one I normally take. I spent most of the class going "wait, she said whatnow?". There is one move in particular that I still don't get even after performing it, and I'll have to run it by Satoe on Thursday. I'm pretty sure my feet don't do that particular move, though.

I really should have talked about the many funs had last weekend already, but it's been so hot here I've had trouble stringing two thoughts together. Today was the worst but at some point before I finished work the temperature dropped and I totally don't feel like passing out. I don't even have the fan on right now! I turned it off because I was trying to paint my nails and my hair kept blowing about and it turns out that the breeze is delightful enough without it. I doubt this state of affairs will last for long but I intend to make the most of it.

So, yes, last weekend. It was great. I went over Friday night, which is a thing I miss doing. It's not really feasible for most weekend trips as it requires me to arrange for a taxi and then pay the bloody thing in order to catch the last shinkansen at 10 pm. The timing worked out well and Andy and Sheila actually ended up on the same train to his place as me, although we didn't meet up until the station. Sheila passed out shortly thereafter, done in by a lethal combination of jet lag and heat and cheap beer, so Andy and our new friend Kyoko and I retired to his bedroom (aka the room with the ac) to drink wine and bubbly until 3 am. Saturday we mostly lounged until we realized that we needed to trek to the other side of Tokyo for a dinner party, which took almost as long as it takes me to get to Tokyo from Hamamatsu.

Sunday we lounged some more but eventually got our act together. They accompanied me to the Apple store in Ginza, a spectacularly wasted journey. They were so busy that the floor staff I talked to told me to come back another day, which is obviously not going to happen. So I'm still not sure what to do about the nano situation. Tomoko loaned me her old one to tide me over at the gym, and this week I finished the bit of the weights program I was doing and have now abandoned the third stage in favour of yoga and swimming for the next two months, so I'm good for that. I suspect the iPhone will serve for a while for non-gym purposes, and I also suspect that by the time I pay for services and (presumably) a replacement nano that it will just be easier and not much more costly to buy a brand new one.

After that we made a stop at the frozen beer place. I was disappointed to find it did not actually serve beer slushies and that just the head on the beer was frozen, but as gimmicks go it was an icy refreshing boozy gimmick that came with edamame and nachos, so it's a gimmick I can get behind. Then I had to come home as I had to work on Monday, unlike the rest of Japan, but I declared most of Monday to be Game Day so it wasn't so bad. Then I spent the rest of the week wilting and being grateful for cold, if not frozen, beer.

This coming weekend is the first one for a month and a half where I have absolutely no plans. I was thinking I would stay at home and try to reinstate the budget but then I remembered that I need a new swim suit for the gym. Normally the mall annoys me, filled as it is with people and clothing that is far too small for me, but unless this cool snap sticks around I think a day spent on the bus and in the mall, both with ac, sounds pretty good.

Typical visit at Andy's.

Shhh. Don't tell the others (especially not her sisters), but she is my favourite. Partly because I've seen her almost every week of her entire life, but partly because she is so unabashedly adorkable. Plastic pink and yellow glasses worn in all seriousness? Yes please!

My iPod died. Well, the on/off button stopped working, and that one is kind of important. Andy says we can probably squeeze a trip to the Ginza Apple store in on the 15th on our way to the place with the frozen beer, so I'll see what they say. I've had the phone for just over a year so no more warranty goodness for me, which means it may be simpler just to replace it. Theoretically my iPhone is a good replacement but that's really only good for listening on transit or maybe while walking. I don't see duct-taping it to my arm as a good solution to the gym, which means I may have to give up the weight lifting in favour of swimming a bit earlier than planned.

It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I remember a time when the thought of a sunny summer day didn't make me want to burst into tears, but that was a long, long time ago. Bring on the heat stroke!

See, this is why I wanted a phone with a decent camera. Sometimes you just go out for drinks and find yourself somewhere with a live owl.

Remember how last summer I didn't see any cockroaches until one in September, and that was it? Good times. Good times that are not going to be repeated. Apparently the bird that died was the one in charge of eating the cockroaches.