Slight return

It seems like a long time since I was home scorching myself at Felixstowe with Billy and Bentley, but I thought I`d stick up the pictures of them anyway. Billy is the one with jaw-jut and Bentley the one with an attitude problem. He went for me almost every day in England. It didn`t do much to stop me missing Stussy. It would be nice to have a pet out here, so I am taking small steps to befriend a pack of ten tabbies who have appeared from nowhere. When people move house in Japan, sometimes they move quite literally, taking the place apart and rebuilding on a more desirable plot of land. This has happened by my apartment and ten overly friendly strays can now be found lurking in the muddied grounds. I have my eye on two of them, but am not sure my conscience can really allow me to steal them from such a happy and healthy extended family. I expect it can.

It`s taken no time to get used to being back. In spite of no one believing me, Japan can be quite mundane. By Saturday night, I was dreading returning to my little box and having to work on Monday. Work was, as always, quite fun, until I lost my voice from a combined assault of air conditioning, jetlag and the Japanese summer. By Saturday, I was a hacking mute and had to whisper to a class of five rowdy seven- and eight-year-olds that I couldn`t shout so they would have to be quiet. Ludicrously, they consented.



It`s been very nice being back. Japan has taken its World Cup Defeat on the chin and the joozu Kawaguchi can be seen on TV with `I Will Survive` as the backing track. This week, I have been in a mood because of over-tiredness, but very little has happening to genuinely warrant it. I`ve had several very nice nights out catching up with everyone as though I had gone for two months, instead of two weeks. On my first proper night back, I went to the George and got drunk with the man himself and Jerry and Koji. Kate and her boyfriend popped in to say hello and some other people were also involved, but the red wine blanked them out.

On Thursday, I had a girls` night out with my lunatic friends, Kaori and Yukako and the more sensible Nozomi and Yoko. Kaori wanted to go to the George for pizza, which was a disappointing suggesting I was unable to deflect until we passed a new izakaya called Gachi Samurei and I managed to herd them all in there where we were drowned out by the bellowing `rashaimase`s` of the staff. I didn`t miss this yodelled ritual which humiliated you whenever you enter any establishment that expects you to spend money. The nicer ones do it quietly, so it seems homely and authentic, but other places make such a meal of it, there`s a vocal Mexican wave ending with a newly deaf customer clutching their bleeding ear drums. We spent the night with Yukako and Kaori propounding their strange beliefs about `foreign boyfriends`. Kaori is scared of them, but won`t date Japanese for no good reason, whereas Yukako dislikes the traditional values of Japanese boyfriends so is dating a man she is not attracted to, has sex with with the light off and is trying to `decrease the opportunities she has to see him`. Rob, if you`re reading this, give up.

Wednesday, I had had a far more reasoned evening with Mike and on Friday he accompanied me as I bought my laptop. I knew what I wanted, but I needed his emotional and moral support to part with such an enormous sum of money. I am now the overly-proud owner of a brand-new MacBook and as soon as I have my broadband connection, will be updating these pages more regularly. I am not sure when that will be, as Gerraint and I had quite an ordeal sorting it. We went to a store Friday evening to get it sorted, but were abandoned in the aisles by a fat man in an apron, so decided to try a different store. There, a man with perfect English directed us to a man with none who was to complete the deal.

Before this, Mike and I had an epic shopping trip. First we tried Akihabira, but it`s is full of low-budget electrical stores that reek of dishonesty, expired warranties and faulty goods, so we tripped off to the Mac Store in Ginza (much like ditching Dixons for Bond Street) and I fully exquiped myself for all eventualities. After that, we marched around trying to find somewhere reasonably priced for a drink or some food (Ginza is too posh for vending machines) and eventually came to stop on the roof terrace of a plush department store, complete with pet store and golf range. It was mucky and quite random, even offering its own shrine for those who wished to get their newly purchased koi blessed. After that, we decided we deserved a treat and headed to Ganpachi, the restaurant Koizumi took George Bush to during his recent visit.